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The  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio 


A  Study  ia 


Adaptation  and  Assimilation 


'^aaes^ 


By 

TiEV.   Daniel  Jenkins    Wir;LiAMS 


THESIS 

PHESENTKr  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GR/VDUATE  ScIIOOL  OP  THE 

Ohio  State  IJNiVEEisiTY,  in  Partl\l  Fulfilment 
OF  the  Requirements  for  the  Degree 

OF     D<^0TOF?     OF     PtTILOSOPHY 


The  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio 


The  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio 

A  Study  in 

Adaptation  and  Assimilation 


By 


Rev.  Daniel  Jenkins  WniLiAMS 


THESIS 

Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  op  the 

Ohio  State  University,  in  Partial  Fulfilment 

OF  THE  Requirements  for  the  Degree 

OF  Doctor  op  Philosophy 


Published  by  the  Author 

Oshkosh,  Wlsconsin 

1913 


Copyright  1913 

by 

Daniel  Jenkins  Williams 


Dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Memory  of 
Hugh  and  Elias  R. 


^-v        «     ^^ 


Y  GwiR  Yn  Erbyn  Y  Btd" 
Welsh  Motto 


CONTENTS 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Bibliography 11-12 

Chapter  I. 
The  Cause  of  Welsh  Emigration 

The  Norman-English  Conquest  of  Wales 13 

The  Assimilation  of  Welsh  and  English  Law 13 

Nonconformity  in  Wales 15 

Religious  Awakening  in  the  Eighteenth  Century 15 

Result  of  the  18th  Century  Revival  on  the  Social  Life 

of  Wales  16 

General  Dissatisfaction  Results  in  Emigration 16 

Traces  of  Early  Welsh  Migration 17 

The  ''Dyffryn  Mawr''  Colony  in  Pennsylvania 18 

After  the  War  of  Independence  Welsh  Emigration  Revived  18 

Chapter  II. 

The  Coming  of  the  Welsh  to  Ohio 

(Immigration  and  Early  Settlement) 

The  First  Welsh  Arrivals 20 

The  First  Permanent  Welsh  Settlers 20 

The  Paddy's  Run  Settlement 22 

The  Welsh  Hills  Settlement 23 

The  **  Jackson  and  Gallia''  Settlement , . . . .  24 

The  Gomer  Settlement 26 

The  Venedocia  Settlement  , 27 

The  Radnor  Settlement 27 

Pioneer  Life 28 

Early  Homes  29 

The  Family  and  the  Home  Training. 30 

Sabbath  Observance  30 

Religious  Life   31 

Growth 34 

Decline    37 


*    *    •  •>  ^^  •     • 


8  CONTENTS 

Chapter  III. 
The  Welsh  of  Ohio  in  Columbus 

Page 

Location  and  Early  History  of  Columbus 39 

Location  Advantageous  to  the  Welsh 41 

Periods  of  Welsh  Migration 42 

The  First  Period 42 

Emigration  to  America  Agitated  in  Wales 43 

Welsh  of  the  First  Period  Skilled  Laborers 48 

The  Second  Period 49 

The  ^^Mill  Men''  Come  49 

Immigration  from  Local  Settlements  in  Ohio 50 

The  Third  Period  52 

Organization  and  Change 55 

Community  Spirit ^ . . . 58 

Literary  and  Social  Functions 59 

The  Eisteddfod  59 

Donations 60 

Amusements  60 

The  Welsh  Prominent  in  Columbus 60 

Conclusion    61 


Chapter  IV. 
Welsh  Population  Statistics 

General  Statement   63 

The  Gathering  of  Data  for  the  Present  Work 64 

Limitations  of  the  Work 66 

Classified  Groups    67 

General  Survey  of  the  Welsh  Population  of  Columbus 68 

Distribution  of  the  Welsh  over  the  City 69 

Population  by  Age  Classes 74 

Sex  75 

Foreign  and  Native  Born 76 

Place  of  Birth  76 

Conclusion    80 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  V. 
Welsh  Social  Statistics 

Page 

General  Statement 81 

Marriage  and  Conjugal  Relation 81 

Intermarriage 82 

Families,  Dwellings  and  Resident  Districts 89 

Occupation  Groups  and  Business  Relations 92 

Education  94 

Literary  and  Improvement  Societies 94 

Morality  and  Temperance 96 

Politics    97 

Church  Membership  97 

Conclusion    104 


Chapter  VI. 

The  Process  of  Change 
(The  Vanishing  Welsh) 

Welsh  Conservatism  Giving  Way  to  a  Broader  Outlook . . .  105 

Regard  for  Sunday  and  Holidays 107 

The  Linguistic  Question 108 

Characteristic  Welsh  Institutions  Waning 116 

Revivals  Among  the  Welsh 117 

The  Problem  of  the  Church 119 

The  Church  and  Its  Ministry 124 

Three  Groups  of  Welsh  Ministers  Discussed 125 

The  Welsh  Church  Approaching  a  Crisis 127 

The  Welsh  Church  in  Columbus  Adapting  Itself 132 

Intermarriage  Affects  Church  Membership 133 

Concluding  Remarks   134 


10 


CONTENTS 


Graphic  Representations 

Figure  1.  Showing  the  Sources  of  the  Welsh  in  Colum- 
bus in  25  years 54 

Figure  2.     Showing  the  relative  number  of  foreign  and 

native  bom  Welsh 77 

Figure  3.     Showing  relative  number  of  pure  and  mixed 

marriages    84 

Figure  4.     Showing  marriages  according  to  grouping  of 

foreign  and  native  born 86 

Figure  5.     Showing  relative  number  of  church  members, 

attendants,  and  non-church-goers 102 

Figure  6.     Showing  relative  number  of  Welsh  speakers 

and  non-Welsh-speakers 114 

Figure  7.  Showing  relative  number  of  Welsh  speakers 
according  to  classifications  of  native  and 
foreign  born 115 

Figure  8.  i.  Showing  relative  number  of  baptisms,  and, 
ii.  those  admitted  into  church  membership 

in  a  given  period 131 

Map 

Outline  Map  of  Columbus 72 

Appendix 

A.  Table  II.  showing  Total  Number  of  Members  Received 

into  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  of  Columbus 
by  Letters  in  25  years. 

B.  Table  V.    Age-groups  According  to  Sex  in  the  Calvinistic 

Methodist  Church  and  Society. 

C.  Table  VI.     Statistics  of  Foreign  and  Native  Bom  Welsh 

in  Columbus. 

D.  Tables  VIII.,  IX.  and  X.  on  Marriage  and  Intermarriages 

and  the  Nationalities  with  whom  the  Welsh  have 
Intermarried. 

E.  Tables  XIII.,  XIV.  and  XV.  on  Church  Members,  At- 

tendants, and  Non-church-goers,  Classified  According 
to  their  Foreign  and  Native  Born  Groups. 

F.  List  of  Welsh  Periodicals  Published  in  America. 

Error 144 


BIBLIOGBAPHT  11 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

**The  Cradle  of  the  Republic,  Jamestown  and  the  James 
River''  by  Lyon  G.  Tyler:  First  edition  1900;  sec- 
ond edition  1906.  Hermitage  Press,  Richmond,  Va., 
publisher. 

"New  England's  Memorial"  by  Nathaniel  Morton,  5th  Edi- 
tion by  John  Davies.  Crocker  and  Brewester,  pub- 
lishers, Boston,  1826. 

'*The  Making  of  Pennsylvania"  by  Sidney  George  Fisher, 
1896,     Lippincott,  Philadelphia,  publisher. 

'* Historical  Collections  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania"  by 
Sherman  Day,  1843  edition. 

''Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,"  two  Volumes  by  Henry 
Howe;  C.  J.  Krehbiel  &  Co.,  publishers,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

''Ohio  Historical  Society," — Articles  by  William  Harvey 
Jones. 

"The  History  of  Paddy's  Run"  by  Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw;  pub- 
lished by  Hamilton  Telegraph  Co.,  Hamilton,  Ohio, 
1876. 

"The  Story  of  My  Life"  by  Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw,  D.  D., 
Cleves,  Ohio. 

"Some  Facts  with  Reference  to  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio 
from  the  Earliest  Times  Up  to  1860"  by  L.  D. 
Davies,  Columbus,  Ohio.     1910. 

"Statistics  and  Sociology"  by  Richmond  Mayo-Smith,  1902; 
The  MacMillian  Co.,  publishers. 

"Y  Cyfaill" — a  Welsh  monthly  magazine  of  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  denomination.  Rev.  Joseph  Roberts,  D. 
D.,  New  York  City,  editor. 

"Sefydliadau  Jackson  a  Gallia"  by  Rev.  William  R.  Evans, 
Gallia,  0.    J.  T.  Griffiths,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  publisher. 


12  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

*'Y  Drych"  a  Welsh  weekly  paper  for  the  Welsh  in  America 

owned  and  published  by  J.  T.  Griffiths,  Utica,  N.  Y. 
*'The  Cymry  of  76'' — an  address  delivered  in  1855  before  the 

Saint  David's  Benevolent  Society,  New  York  City  by 

Alexander  Jones,  M.  D. 
*' Cymry  Al  Phobl"  1894,  printed  by  the  editor  of  the  Drych, 

Utica,  N.  Y. 
*'Hanes  Cymry  America"  1872,  by  Rev.  R.  D.  Thomas  (lor- 

werth  Cwynedd)  published  by  T.  J.  Griffiths,  Utica, 

N.  Y. 
*'Cofia.nt  y  Parch  Robert  Williams,  Moriah,  Ohio."  published 

by  T.  J.  Griffiths,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1883. 
**Hanes  Methodistiaeth  Cymry,"  Rev.  John  Hughes;  published 

by  Hughes  and  Son,  Wrexham,  1854. 
**The  Cambrian" — a  magazine  for  Welsh- Americans,  publish- 
ed by  T.  J.  Griffiths,  Utica,  N.  Y. 
''Records  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  Columbus,  O." 
The  United  States  Census  for  1910. 
''The  Welsh  People"  by  John  Rhys  and  David  Brynmor— 

Jones,  the  MacMillian  Co.    1900. 
"The  Story  of  the  Nations— Wales"  by  Owen  M.  Edwards, 

Putnam's  Sons,  1902. 
"Diwygiadau    Crefyddol    Cymry,"    Parch    Henry    Hughes, 

published  at  Sywddfa'r  Genedl,  Caernarfon. 
"Cofiant  Y  Tri  Brawd,"  E.  Pan  Jones,  Ph.  D.,  H.  Evans, 

Bala,  publisher. 
"Welshmen   as   Civil,   Political   and  Moral   Factors   in  the 

Formation  of  the  United  States  Republic,"  by  Rev. 

W.  R.  Evans. 
"Adroddiad  Pwryllgor  Adeiladu  Capel  Newydd  Salem,  Vene- 

docia." 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  WELSH  EMIGRATION 

Welsh  emigration  grew  naturally  out  of  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  Wales.  The  conditions  resulted  from  a  series  of 
events  running  over  several  centuries  which  culminated  in  a 
break  between  the  landlord  and  the  tenant,  between  the  own- 
ers of  estates  and  the  actual  tillers  of  the  land. 

In  briefly  tracing  the  steps  which  led  ultimately  to  ex- 
treme dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  Welsh  with  conditions 
in  their  native  land  we  observe  the  following  facts : 

The  forming  of  modem  estates  in  Wales  was  a  gradual 
process  and  was  due  to  the  breaking  down  of  the  ancient 
Welsh  feudal  system  consequent  to  the  Norman  or  Norman- 
English  Conquest.  Wales  is  a  land  of  castles,  but  her  castles 
are  not  Welsh — they  are  Norman.  They  were  erected  by 
the  conquerors  of  Wales.  The  result  of  this  gradual  conquest 
was  the  formation  of  modem  estates  in  Wales.  The  free- 
holders, who  possessed  tracts  of  land  so  large  that  they  ceased 
to  be  farmers  in  the  ordinary  sense  and  who  lived  mainly  on 
the  rents  paid  them  by  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  gradually  became 
a  distinct  class  and  the  natural  outgrowth  was  the  develop- 
ment of  an  aristocratic  group. 

The  assimilation  of  Welsh  and  English  law  which  was 
completed  by  the  legislation  of  Henry  VIII.  tended  to  enlarge 
the  powers  of  this  aristocratic  class  very  much,  for,  from  that 
time,  Welsh  members  were  sent  to  Westminster  regularly  and 
this  fact  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  fortunes  of  the 
Welsh  upper  class. ^  Prom  the  very  nature  of  the  situation 
it  was  members  of  the  landowning  families  that  were  sent  to 
Parliament  for  many  generations.  The  result  of  this  was  that 
the  aristocracy  of  Wales  joined  in  the  general  political  life  of 


1     S«e    "The    Story    of    the    Nations — Wales"    Oh.    XX    on    the    "Court    of 
Wales." 


14  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

the  whole  kingdom,  and  it  gave  them  a  broader  outlook  on  life 
and  a  keener  sense  of  their  own  importance  as  well.  They 
came  into  contact  with  people  of  their  own  class  in  England 
and  this  finally  led  to  intermarriage  between  Welsh  and 
English  families.  Their  increasing  association  with  the  cor- 
responding class  in  England  led  also  to  a  gradual  assimilation 
in  manners,  speech,  and  general  habits  of  life. 

The  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  which  took  place  prac- 
tically at  the  same  time  as  the  summoning  of  the  Welsh  mem- 
bers to  Parliament  had  also  an  important  effect  on  the  en- 
larging of  Welsh  estates,  or,  better  say,  of  the  estates  in  Wales, 
for  it  gave  an  opportunity  to  members  of  the  Norman-English 
baronial  families  as  well  as  to  the  Welsh  princely  families  to 
add  new  tracts  to  their  estates. 

The  rebellion  of  the  17th  Century  had  a  great  effect  in 
destroying  the  older  Welsh  estates  and  in  forming  new  ones. 
By  the  time  of  James  I.,  Wales  as  well  as  England  was  divided 
into  estates  similar  in  character  to  those  of  today. ^ 

The  Norman-English  Conquest  of  Wales  stopped  the 
progress  of  Wales  in  every  way.  Not  only  had  the  Welsh 
lost  their  land  but  the  continual  condition  of  warfare  reduced 
the  masses  of  the  people  to  a  barren  condition  intellectually. 
The  real  Welsh  aristocracy  of  the  pre-Conquest  period,  the 
people  who  nourished  and  fostered  the  early  literature  of 
Wales,  disappeared  or  became  assimilated  into  the  English 
upper  class.  The  Reformation  created  little  or  no  excitement 
in  Wales.  It  was  practically  unnoticed  by  the  great  masses 
of  the  Principality.  This  is  significant,  for  a  strong  religious 
appeal  would  naturally  arouse  the  highly  imaginative  and 
emotional  Celt.  **The  Welsh,''  says  Professor  Rhys,  **were 
plunged  into  a  deep  sleep  from  which  the  Civil  Wars  and  the 
religious  excitement  of  the  17th  Century  were  able  only  very 
partially  to  arouse  them.'* 

During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  a  statute  was  passed  pro- 


1     See  "The  Welsh  People"  Ch,  IX  p.  295  sq.  on  "History  of  Land  Tenure 
in  Wales;"  see  also   "The  Story  of  the  Nations — ^Wales"  p.  339  sq. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  WELSH  EMIGRATION  15 

viding  for  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Welsh.  This  task 
was  a  service  of  inestimable  value  to  religion  in  Wales. 

Nonconformity  in  Wales  as  to  its  origin  is  generally  asso- 
ciated with  William  Worth  and  his  colleagues  who  after  being 
ejected  from  the  church  went  around  preaching  as  itinerant 
preachers  throughout  the  country. ^  But  so  far  as  the  or- 
ganized condition  of  the  church  was  concerned  it  remained 
practically  unchanged,  with  the  possible  exception  of  a  few 
nonconformist  organizations  in  South  Wales,  until  the  end  of 
the  17th  Century. 

Religiously  rural  Wales  was  a  desolate  wilderness  at  the 
beginning  of  the  18th  Century.  The  majority  of  the  clergy 
of  the  Established  Church  contented  themselves  with  a  per- 
functory discharge  of  their  duties.  Services  were  seldom 
held;  in  some  parishes  only  once  or  twice  in  a  year,  and  in 
others  no  services  in  several  years.  The  Church  appointed 
to  the  Welsh  bishoprics  persons  entirely  ignorant  of  the  Welsh 
language.  Another  evil  was  the  *' clerical  absenteeism.*' 
Many  of  the  clergy  of  Welsh  parishes  did  not  reside  in  their 
parishes.2  And  still  greater  was  the  evil  of  the  *' system  of 
pluralities"  where  men  held  several  offices  in  the  church  and 
distributed  many  more  among  members  of  their  families.^ 

The  Religious  Awakening, — ^With  such  conditions  pre- 
vailing something  must  happen,  and  it  did  happen  in  Wales. 
The  renaissance  of  Wales  during  the  18th  Century  came  in 
the  form  of  a  religious  revival  which  in  its  intensity  and  con- 
sequence was  tremendous.  The  century  from  1730  to  1830 
witnessed  a  complete  transformation  of  the  Welsh  people. 
*an  1730,"  Professor  Rhys  tells  us,  'Hhe  Welsh  speaking 
people  were  probably  as  a  whole  the  least  religious  and  most 
intellectually  backward  in  England  and  Wales.  By  1830 
they  had  become  the  most  earnest  and  religious  people  in  the 
whole  kingdom." 


1  See  "The  Welsh  People"  p.  462. 

2  The  Bishops  of  Llandaff  were  absentees  from  1706  to  1820.  See  Welsh 
People  p.  468. 

8  Bishop  Luxmore  and  four  of  his  relatives,  (sons  and  nephews)  held 
collectirely  not  less  than  16  offices  which  brought  to  them  from  church  sources 
•bout  25,225£.     For  details  see   "The  Welsh  People"   p.  468-469. 


16  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

This  change  was  produced  by  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
revival.  In  some  respects  this  revival  resembled  the  revival 
which  took  place  in  England  under  Whitfield  and  Wesley. 
It  had  its  beginning  within  the  pale  of  the  Established 
Church.  Griffith  Jones  of  Llanddowror  was  its  originator 
but  he  was  soon  eclipsed  by  Daniel  Rowlands  of  Llangeitho 
and  Howell  Harries  of  Treveca.  These  two  men  in  spite  ot 
bitterest  persecution  and  most  violent  opposition  aroused 
Wales  from  its  lethargy  by  their  powerful  preaching.  The 
result  was  that  by  the  middle  of  the  18th  Century  large  and 
energetic  nonconformist  organizations  had  been  created  in 
Wales.  A  great  and  efficient  clergj^  had  arisen  and  a  con- 
structive work  was  being  carried  on.^ 

The  influence  of  this  revival  upon  the  social  and  economic 
progress  of  Wales  was  significant.  It  was  a  religious  move- 
ment to  be  sure,  but  it  was  more  than  that.  It  produced  a 
change  in  the  mental  and  moral  qualities  of  the  people.  The 
result  of  this  awakening  expressed  itself  in  many  ways.  It 
helped  to  preserve  the  Welsh  language  which  was  rapidly 
vanishing  in  the  Conquest  period.  It  stimulated  Welsh 
literature  and  it  raised  a  force  of  Welsh  writers  and  pulpit 
orators  of  mighty  power.  It  stimulated  a  demand  for  edu- 
cation, and  it  created  a  general  dissatisfaction  with  the  social 
and  economic  regime  then  existing. 

With  the  awakening  from  the  apathy  produced  by  cen- 
turies of  conquest,  internal  wars,  and  lordship  domination, 
there  arose  in  the  bosom  of  Wales  the  old  time  desire  for 
liberty  and  independence.  This  cherished  hope  had  been 
blighted  for  centuries,  but  the  love  of  freedom  which  was 
dormant  in  the  heart  of  the  nation  was  rekindled  and  now 
asserted  itself  once  more. 

We  have  this  condition  existing  in  Wales  during  the  18th 
and  19th  Centuries,  the  period  of  great  emigration;  The 
inhabitants  were  divided  into  two  classes  very  unequal  in 
number    and    intelligence,    viz.    (i)     The    landowning    class 


1     See   "The  Welsh  People"   p.   453  Ch.  X  on  the  Religious  Movement   in 
Wales.     See  bUo  "The  Story  of  tie  Nations — Wales"   p.  386  sq. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  WELSH  EMIGRATION  17 

which  was  aristocratic  in  type,  living  in  the  towns,  speaking 
for  the  most  part  the  English  language,  and  who  were  in 
direct  touch  with  the  same  class  in  England,  (ii)  The  ac- 
tual cultivators  of  the  soil,  speaking  the  Welsh  language,  liv- 
ing in  the  rural  parts,  and  entertaining  views  of  life  and 
clinging  to  traditions  belonging  to  an  early  stage  of  civiliza- 
tion. The  landowners  were  English  churchmen  while  their 
tenants  were  nonconformists,  and  the  former  had  but  little 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  later. 

The  foregoing  may  suffice  as  a  rough  outline  of  general 
conditions  which  may  well  account  for  Welsh  migration  fx) 
America  when  once  the  attention  of  the  downtrodden  people 
was  called  to  the  advantages  on  the  American  Continent.  To 
know  of  a  land  where  he  might  actually  become  possessor  of 
a  plot  of  ground  and  where  he  could  worship  according  to  the 
dictates  of  his  own  conscience  appealed  to  the  Welshman  very 
strongly;  and  hither  they  came  in  large  numbers. 

There  were  Welsh  in  the  Colonies  which  landed  at  James- 
town^ and  Plymouth  Rock,^  and  many  refugees  fled  to  New 
England  in  the  succeeding  decades.  Welsh  place  names  in 
New  England  such  as  the  towns  of  Bangor,  Milford  and  Mon- 
mouth in  Maine,  Milford  in  Massachusetts,  and  Conway  in 
New  Hampshire,  indicate  that  there  were  Welsh  settlers  in 
the  various  Colonies.^ 

The  first  Welsh  colony  of  any  considerable  size  and  im- 
portance was  that  which  came  to  America  under  William  Penn 
in  1682.  With  the  coming  of  Penn  the  Welsh  entered  Penn- 
sylvania in  very  large  numbers.  Fisher  in  his  *' Making  of 
Pennsylvania''  informs  us  that  *'For  the  first  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  after  the  founding  of  Pennsylvania  in  1682  the 
Welsh  were  the  most  numerous  class  of  immigrants,  and  they 
have  left  many  traces  of  themselves  for  many  miles  around 
Philadelphia  in  the  names  of  places.*' 

1  See  "The  Cradle  of  the  Republic,  James  Town  and  the  James  River" 
p.  100  sq.  where  20  or  more  Welsh  names  are  given  among  those  who  landed 
at  Jamestown  in  1607. 

2  See  "New  England's  Memorial"  p.  38  sq.  where  at  least  five  names 
which  are  Welsh  are  mentioned  among  the  men  who  signed  the  first  political 
document  at  Cape  Cod. 

3  "Cymry  A*   i  Phobl"  p.  41  sq. 


18   •  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  Welsh  settled  in  *'Y  Dyffryn  Mawr/^— The  Great 
Valley — near  Philadelphia.  They  had  negotiated  with  Penn 
for  this  tract,  which  consisted  of  40,000  acres  of  land,  before 
they  left  Wales.  The  Welsh  of  the  Dyffrn  Mawr  colony  were 
Quakers,  and  for  the  first  eight  or  nine  years  they  undertook 
to  rule  their  colony  in  their  own  way,  having  none  of  the 
usual  county  or  township  officers,  their  Quaker-meetings  exer- 
cising the  civil  authority.^  That  which  determined  emigra- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Welsh  who  came  to  the  Dyffrn  Mawr 
was  twofold  in  nature,  (i)  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles  in  Wales 
and,  (jr)  the  persecution  of  the  Quakers  in  the  17th  Century. 
When  the  way  was  opened  the  Welsh  immediately  followed 
Penn  to  his  Province  in  Pennsylvania.  The  venture  of  the 
first  Welshmen  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  was  attended  with 
great  success  and  that  stimulated  others  of  their  countrymen 
to  follow  them  to  America. 

For  a  hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  this  colony  in 
the  Dyffryn  Mawr  the  Welsh  continued  to  migrate  and  to 
settle  in  the  different  New  England  Colonies.  The  part  which 
the  Welsh  took  in  the  struggle  for  American  Independence 
shows  a  general  prevalence  of  Welsh  in  the  Colonies.  Among 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  there  were 
Welshmen  from  several  different  Colonies.  Among  the  gen- 
erals of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  fourteen  men  of 
Welsh  blood,  as  were  also  many  of  the  Colonels,  Captains, 
Lieutenants,  Naval  Officers  and  Chaplains,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  hundreds  who  filled  the  ranks.^ 

After  the  War  for  Independence  Welsh  migration  revived 
with  vigor.  The  record  of  Welshmen  in  the  fight  for  inde- 
pendence aroused  the  pride  and  the  love  of  liberty  which  the 
Welsh  so  much  cherished,  and  thousands  came  to  believe  that 
their  high  aspirations  could  be  realized  only  in  America.  The 
Press  was  also  busy  with  articles  which  stimulated  and  nour- 
ished dissatisfaction  with  conditions  in  Wales,  and  was  at  the 

1  See  "The  Making  of  Pennsylvania"  p.  202  sq.  See  also  "Historical 
CollectionB  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania"  Chapters  on  Delaware,  Cambria, 
Chester  and  Montgomery  Counties. 

2  See  "The  Cymry  of  '76";  see  also  "Welshmen  as  Civil,  Political  and 
Moral  Factors  in  the  Formation  and  Development  of  the  United  States  Republic." 


THE  CAUSE  OF  WELSH  EMIGRATION  19 

same  time  publishing  glowing  advertisements  of  favorable 
conditions  in  the  United  States. ^ 

The  religious  independent  spirit  was  also  growing. 
Shortly  after  1730  Daniel  Kowlands  of  Llangeitho  and  Howell 
Harris  of  Treveca  stirred  all  Wales  with  their  dissenting 
movement,  and  this  turned  the  faces  of  thousands  of  Welsh- 
men toward  America  with  a  view  to  enjoying  religious  liberty.  , 

It  is  our  purpose  in  the  chapters  which  follow  to  study 
some  of  the  Wekh_who  iidgrated  ^t^^  Ohio  toward  the  close  of 
the  18th  Century  and  during  the  early  decades  of  The  I9ffi 
Century,  and  to  follow  their  fortunes  to  the  point  where  they 
are  being  assimilated  into  the  great  American  people.  \       g     l. 

1  Rev.  Richard  Price  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  "Observations  on  Civil  Liberty 
and  the  Justice  and  the  Policy  of  the  War  with  America"  in  1776.  60,000  * 
copies  of  this  work  was  sold  in  a  few  months.  This  pamphlet  aroused  great 
interest  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  So  greatly  was  it  admired  in  the  United 
States  that  the  American  Congress  in  1778,  through  Franklin,  communicated  to 
him  their  desire  to  consider  him  a  fellow  citizen,  and  asked  his  assistance  in 
regulating  their  finances.  In  1783,  the  same  time  as  Washington,  Mr.  Price 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Yale  University. 


& 


CHAPTER  11. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO 
(Migration  and  Early  Settlement) 

The  first  Welshman  to  enter  the  territory  now  known  as 
the  State  of  Ohio  was  the  Rev.  David  Jones  who  labored  as  a 
missionary  among  the  Shawnee  and  Delaware  Indians  in  1772 
and  1773.  The  second  Welshman  known  to  have  traversed 
Ohio  ground  was  General  Anthony  Wayne.  General  Wayne, 
with  his  army,  came  to  Ohio  in  1793  being  commissioned  by 
the  government  *'to  make  an  end  of  Indian  troubles  on  the 
frontier. '  *  ^ 

The  first  permanent  Welsh  settlers^  in  Ohio  were  Ezekiel 
Hughes  and  Edward  Bebb  who  came  from  Llanbrynmair, 
Montgomeryshire,  North  Wales.  These  two  men  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  first  definite  step  westward  on  the  part  of 
Welsh  emigrants.  Hughes  and  Bebb  were  instrumental  in 
persuading  a  company  of  fifty  Welsh  people  in  their  neighbor- 
hood in  Llanbrynmair  to  emigrate  to  America.  This  com- 
pany walked  from  Llanbrynmair  to  Bristol,  England,  where, 
on  August  11th,  1795,  they  embarked  on  the  ship  Maria  and 
sailed  for  America.  After  a  perilous  voyage  of  fourteen 
weeks  they  entered  Delaware  Bay  and  in  a  few  days  there- 
after reached  the  port  of  Philadelphia.  These  emigrants  be- 
came the  pioneer  settlers  of  Ebensgburg,  Cambria  County, 
Pennsylvania,  of  Paddy's  Run,  Butler  County,  Ohio,  and  of 
the  Welsh  Hills  in  Licking  County,  Ohio. 

In  the  autumn  of  1796  twelve  families  settled  in  Ebens- 
burg^  including  those  of  Theopholis  Reese,  Thomas  Phillips, 
and  James  Nicholas.  In  the  following  Spring  and  Summer 
eleven  other  families  came  to  the  settlement.    They  named 


1  See    "The  Cambrian  for  Nov.  3,   1881;   also    "The  Cymry  of   '76" 

2  See    "The    History    of    the    Welsh    Settlement    of    Paddy's    Run";    also 
"Hanes  Cymry  America"  p.  113  sq. 

3  See   "Day's  Historical  Collections  of  Pennsylvania,"   chapter  on   "Cam- 
bria County." 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  21 

the  township  Cambria,  and  later  the  County  was  given  the 
same  name.^  The  Welsh  of  this  colony  are  characterized  as 
**a  people  remarkable  for  thrift,  sobriety,  and  industry. '* 

Hughes  and  Bebb  did  not  join  the  other  members  of  their 
company  who  settled  in  Ebensburg,  Pennsylvania,  but  after 
remaining  with  friends  in  the  Dyffryn  Mawr,  (Great  Valley), 
near  Philadelphia  for  several  months,  they  started  in  April 
1796  for  the  then  far  West.  They  walked  over  the  mountains 
to  Red  Stone,  Old  Fort,  (now  Brownsville)  Pa.  where  they 
secured  a  flat-boat  and  floated  down  the  Ohio  River  to  Fort 
Washington,  or  Cincinnati. 

After  reaching  Cincinnati  they  spent  three  weeks  **in 
traversing  the  five  lower  ranges*'  but  in  their  search  they 
found  only  one  tract  of  land  which  they  considered  good  for 
that  part  of  the  country.  They  described  the  land  as  being 
well  watered  and  convenient  being  only  half  a  mile  from  the 
road  going  from  Cincinnati  to  Hamilton.  They  purchased 
100  acres  of  land  in  section  34,  Colerian  Township,  cleared  a 
part  of  it  for  cultivation,  and  built  a  cabin  on  it.  Their  pur- 
pose was  to  remain  there  and  to  experiment  with  the  land  in 
that  region  until  the  land  beyond  the  Great  Miami  was  sur- 
veyed by  the  government  and  placed  on  the  market,  believing 
that  the  soil  on  the  east  side  of  the  Great  Miami  River  was 
similar  to  that  on  the  west  side. 

They  remained  on  their  farm  east  of  the  Great  Miami 
from  1796  until  1801  when  the  government  surveyed  the  land 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  and  placed  it  on  the  market. 
The  two  men  made  frequent  excursions  into  the  regions  be- 
yond the  Miami  and  made  careful  examination  of  the  soil  and 
of  conditions  in  general.  **The  land  to  be  sold  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Miami,"  writes  Hughes,  **is  rich  as  any  in  Ken- 
tucky, much  better  watered,  and  the  title  indisputable.** 

Ezekiel  Hughes  was  the  first  to  purchase  land  in  this  newly 
opened  territory.  He  bought  sections  15  and  16  in  White- 
water Township,  Hamilton  County,  paying  $2.05  per  acre. 

1  The  Welsh  of  Cambria  Cotinty  first  settled  at  Beulah,  about  two  miles 
from  Ebensburg  but  when  Ebensburg  was  made  the  county  seat  of  Cambria 
County,   the  Welsh   gradually  moved   toward  Ebensburg. 


22  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

This  tract  lies  between  the  Miami  and  Whitewater  rivers, 
just  where  the  Whitewater  empties  into  the  Miami.  At  the 
same  time  Edward  Bebb  purchased  half  a  section  on  the  Dry- 
Fork  of  Whitewater  in  what  is  now  Morgan  Township,  Butler 
County,  which  was  the  first  land  bought  in  Butler  County. 
Two  other  men,  Morgan  and  William  Gwilym,  from  Cavena- 
man,  South  Wales,  joined  Hughes  and  Bebb  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Great  Miami  in  1798,  and  ** squatted''  on  Blue  Rock 
Creek.  In  1802  William  Gwilym  followed  his  friends  to 
Paddy's  Run  and  began  to  clear  the  forest.  Morgan  Gwilym 
returned  to  Red  Stone  where  he  had  previously  worked,  stayed 
there  a  while  and  then  invested  his  earnings  in  a  two-horse 
wagon  and  some  iron  castings  and  returned  to  Paddy's  Run. 
Edward  Bebb,  after  buying  his  land,  started  for  Wales 
seeking  the  sweetheart  of  his  former  days  with  the  intention 
of  bringing  her  to  the  cabin  in  the  woods.  He  walked  all  the 
distance  from  Paddy's  Run  to  Ebensburg  intending  to  stay 
there  a  short  time  on  his  return  trip  to  Wales.  While  at 
Ebensburg,  much  to  his  surprise,  he  met  the  lady  for  whom 
he  was  making  the  trip.  Her  maiden  name  was  Margret 
Roberts.  But  when  Bebb  met  her  in  Ebensburg  her  name 
was  Mrs.  Margret  Owens.  After  Bebb  left  Wales  for  Ameri- 
ca Miss  Roberts  married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Owens.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owens  one  child  was  born.  The  family  left 
Wales  for  America  but  on  the  voyage  Owens  and  the  child 
died  and  were  buried  at  sea,  and  Mrs.  Owens  was  left  to  make 
her  way  in  the  new  country  alone.  After  landing  in  New 
York  she  determined  to  go  to  Ebensburg  where  she  had  rela- 
tives who  had  left  Llanbrynmair  in  the  ship  Maria  in  1795. 
It  was  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  friends  that  Edward  Bebb 
found  her  on  his  arrival  at  Ebensburg.  Bebb  remained  there 
a  few  weeks,  then  returned  to  his  home,  on  the  Dry  Fork, 
accompanied  by  his  bride.  There  in  their  cabin  on  December 
8th,  1802  was  bom  William  Bebb,  the  first  white  child  born 
in  Butler  County,  who  later  became  the  17th  Governor  of 
Ohio,  and  the  first  native  born  Governor  of  the  Buckeye  State.^ 

1      See    "Historical   Collections   of   Ohio"    Vol.   I.   p.   349. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  23 

Ezekiel  Hughes  returned  to  Wales  in  1803  and  married  a 
Miss  Margret  Bebb.^  The  two  returned  to  their  home  in 
Hamilton  County  in  1804.  These  trips  on  the  part  of  Bebb 
and  Hughes,  together  with  correspondence  and  glaring  ad- 
vertisement, created  a  great  interest  on  the  part  of  the  Welsh 
of  Llanbrynmair  and  presently  a  large  number  of  Welsh  im- 
migrants poured  into  Paddy's  Rim.  From  1803  to  1820  there 
was  a  constant  stream  of  Welsh  people  coming  into  the  com- 
munity and  a  Welsh  colony  was  the  result. 

Just  as  Hughes  and  Bebb  were  pioneers  in  Paddy's  Run 
so  is  Paddy's  Run  pioneer  and  parent  of  Welsh  settlements 
in  Ohio.2  Out  of  Paddy's  Run  grew,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, four  important  Welsh  settlements  in  the  State,  viz.: 
the  Welsh  Hills  colony  in  Licking  County,  settled  in  1801 ; 
the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlements  in  Jackson  and  Gallia 
Counties,  settled  in  1818 ;  the  Gomer  settlement  established  in 
Gomer,  Allen  County,  in  1833;  and  the  Venedocia  settlement 
in  Vanwert  County  established  in  1848. 

The  Welsh  Hills  Settlement 

Theopholis  Rees  and  Thomas  Phillips  were  members  of  the 
colony  w^hich  first  settled  in  Cambria  County,  Pennsylvania, 
in  1796.  The  influence  of  Hughes  and  Bebb  may  be  seen  in 
the  desire  of  their  friends  to  venture  farther  west. 

In  1801  Theopholis  Rees  began  to  investigate  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  country  beyond  the  Ohio  River.^     In  August 

1  Margret  Bebb,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  was  not  a 
relative  of  the  other  Bebbs  mentioned  in  this  chapter. 

2  Paddy's  Run  sounds  incongruous  as  the  name  of  a  Welsh  community. 
There  is  a  story  handed  down  by  tradition  that  in  the  first  surveying  party 
which  came  to  this  region  there  was  an  Irishman,  and  that  the  Irishman  was 
drowned  in  this  creek.  From  that  time  to  the  present  day  the  creek  has  been 
known  as  Paddy's  Run;  and  the  community  takes  its  name  from  the  creek 
which  runs  through  the  valley.  At  one  time  during  the  '80s  an  effort  was 
made  to  change  the  name  from  Paddy's  Run  to  Glendower  (Welsh,  Glyndwr). 
The  change  was  actually  and  officially  made  by  the  government,  but  so  great 
was  the  opposition  to  it  that  the  name  was  soon  changed  back  to  Paddy's  Run. 
The  station  is  now  called  Shandon  but  the  community  is  known  as  Paddy's  Run. 

3  See  "The  Cambrian"  for  August  1907,  article  by  Wm.  Harvey  Jones, 
p.  344  sq.  Mr.  Jones  in  this  article  states  that  Rees  came  to  America  with 
Thomas  Phillips  and  others  landing  in  New  York  May  14,  1795.  Chidlaw 
definitely  states  that  Rees  was  in  the  company  of  fifty  who  came  with  Hughes 
and  Bebb  and  landed  in  Philadelphia  in  the  Spring  of  1795.  Jones  has  made 
a  careful  study  of  Welsh  Settlements  in  Ohio  in  recent  years.  Ohidlaw,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  the  son-in-law  of  Ezekiel  Hughes  and  wrote  20  years  before 
Jones.  Chidlaw  quotes  from  the  Diary  of  Ezekiel  Hughes  in  his  article  (see 
The  Cambrian  for  May,  1888),  Whether  Rees  was  in  this  particular  company 
which  Hughes  and  Bebb  brought  with  them  or  not  we  do  not  know,  but  that 
the  large  majority  of  the  Ebensburg  colony  were  from  the  colony  that  Hughes 
and  Bebb  brought  over  is  certain.  So  the  influence  of  these  men  in  their  west- 
ward venture  was  felt  in  the  Ebensburg  colony,  and  the  most  venturesome  of 
them  were,  by  the  success  of  their  friends  in  Paddy's  Run.  inspired  to  seek 
like  opportunities  beyond  the  Ohio. 


24  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

1801  he  sent  his  son,  John  Rees,  and  Simon  Jones  to  explore 
a  tract  of  land  in  Granville  Township,  Licking  County,  which 
has  since  received  the  name  of  Welsh  Hills  Settlement.  When 
these  men  returned  to  Ebensburg  and  reported  favorably  on 
the  land  in  Licking  County,  Theopholis  Rees  and  Thomas 
Phillips  purchased  nearly  2,000  acres  of  land  in  the  northwest 
comer  of  Granville  Township.  The  tract  was  divided,  Rees 
taking  the  south  half  or  a  little  more,  and  Phillips  the  re- 
mainder. Others  bought  smaller  farms  about  the  same  time. 
A  year  after  the  purchase  was  made  Rees  and  his  family,  his 
two  sons-in-law  and  their  families,  left  Ebensburg  for  their 
new  home  in  the  Welsh  Hills.  Thomas  Phillips  did  not  come 
to  his  tract  in  the  Welsh  Hills  until  1806.  From  1806  on,  the 
colony  grew  rapidly  for  many  years. 

'^JACKSON  AND  GALLIA'' 

Paddy's  Run  is  indirectly  responsible  for  the  Welsh  set- 
tlement of  Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties  in  Southern  Ohio. 
In  the  Spring  of  1818  six  families  from  Kilkenin,  Cardigan- 
shire, South  Wales,  emigrated  for  America.  Their  destina- 
tion was  Paddy 's  Run,  Butler  County,  Ohio.  Friends  of  these 
people  had  left  Kilkenin  before  and  had  settled  in  Paddy's 
Run.  These  six  families  arrived  at  Baltimore,  and  there 
hired  wagons  to  carry  them  and  their  baggage  to  Pittsburg, 
where  they  purchased  a  flat-boat  to  float  down  the  Ohio  River 
as  far  as  Cincinnati  in  the  hope  of  reaching  Paddy's  Run 
shortly  after.  Floating  down  the  Ohio  they  arrived  in  a  few 
days  at  a  small  village,  and,  being  short  of  provisions,  paddled 
to  shore  and  a  delegation  was  sent  to  the  town  to  secure  food. 
On  entering  the  village  they  discovered  that  the  inhabitants 
were  French — the  village  was  Gallipolis. 

The  delegation  was  kindly  received  by  the  French  inhabit- 
ants who  urged  them  to  remain  for  the  night.  The  committee 
returned  to  the  boat  and  reported  what  they  had  seen  and 
heard,  with  the  result  that  the  entire  party  disembarked  and 
spent  the  night  in  Gallipolis.  The  French  improved  their 
time  and  opportunity  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  persuade 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  25 

the  Welsh  to  remain  in  Gallia  County  giving  it  as  their 
opinion  that  Gallia  County  was  as  good  a  country  as  could  be 
found  anjrvvhere. 

During  the  night  a  violent  storm  arose.  A  heavy  rain 
fell  and  a  fierce  gale  was  blowing.  When  the  Welsh  went  to 
the  river  bank  the  next  morning  their  boat  was  no  where  to 
be  found.  Two  theories  are  advanced  as  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  boat.  One  is  that  during  the  storm  of  that  night  the 
boat  became  unfastened  from  the  shore  and  drifted  down  the 
river.  The  other  is  that  some  resident  of  the  village  imbued 
more  or  less  with  the  modem  idea  of  booming  his  town  cast 
the  boat  adrift  in  the  hope  of  compelling  the  Welsh  immi- 
grants to  increase  the  population  of  Gallipolis.  The  boat  was 
found  and  brought  back  to  the  village  after  several  days 
search,  but  by  this  time  the  women  of  the  company  rebelled 
against  going  any  farther.  ^  They  declared  that  they  had 
sufficiently  risked  their  lives  already  and  positively  declined 
to  commit  themselves  to  the  mercy  of  the  treacherous  Ohio 
any  more  in  a  flat-boat. 

The  rebellion  of  the  women  together  with  the  kind  hospi- 
tality of  the  French  inhabitants  of  Gallipolis  prevailed.  The 
Welsh  settlement  of  Jackson  and  Gallia  owes  its  existence  to 
this  incident  which  occurred  to  this  company  of  immigrants 
who  left  Kilkenin  in  Cardiganshire,  South  Wales,  with  the 
avowed  intention  of  going  to  Paddy's  Run  in  Butler  County, 
hich  is  only  a  short  distance  farther  down  the  river. 

These  six  families  had  little  or  no  means  when  they  arrived 
in  Gallipolis  and  their  first  task  was  to  find  employment.  At 
that  time  the  State  was  opening  a  highw^ay  from  Gallipolis  to 
Jackson.  On  this  road  the  men  found  work.  They  pushed 
their  way  north  and  west  some  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  from 
Gallipolis  and  came  into  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Centerville  in  Gallia  County.  They  followed  Sims  Creek 
where  there  were  a  few  acres  of  good  bottom  land. 

These  pioneers  experienced  untold  hardships  and  suffered 


1     See   **The  Cambrian"   for  June  1883,  p.  120;  also  the   "Cambrian"   for 
Not.  1888,  p.  322  and   "Sefydliadau  Jackson  a  Gallia,"  p.   10  sq. 


26  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

great  privations.  No  glowing  reports  were  sent  to  the  old 
home  in  Wales  from  this  settlement  for  many  years,  and  it 
was  not  imtil  eleven  years  later  that  another  Welshman  came 
from  Cardiganshire  into  Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties. 

In  1829  David  Thomas  came  from  Cardiganshire  to  visit 
his  old  time  neighbors  and  friends,  and  in  1831  the  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Jones  from  the  same  place  came  to  the  settlement. 
While  there  Jones  preached  to  the  pioneers  in  their  native 
tongue.  This  was  the  first  Welsh  preaching  they  had  heard 
since  leaving  Wales.  Jones  stayed  but  a  short  time,  then  re- 
turned to  Cardiganshire  where  he  wrote  and  published  a 
pamphlet  in  which  he  described  the  land  of  Jackson  and  Gallia 
Counties,  and  told  of  its  resources,  urging  that  this  section 
of  Ohio  was  the  very  place  to  which  the  Welsh  should 
emigrate.^  As  a  result  of  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet 
the  Welsh  from  Cardiganshire  literally  poured  into  the  Jack- 
son and  Gallia  settlement  for  many  years.  The  settlement  is 
frequently  called  **The  Cardiganshire  of  America.*'  Immi- 
gration began  with  vigor  in  1834  and  continued  increasingly 
for  twenty  or  twenty-five  years. 

THE  GOMER  SETTLEMENT  IN  ALLEN  COUNTY 
While  the  Welsh  from  Cardiganshire  were  flocking  into 
Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties,  the  Welsh  from  Montgomeryshire 
were  entering  Allen  County.  In  1833  three  men,  James 
Nicholas,  Esq.,  David  Roberts,  and  Thomas  Watkins,  with 
their  respective  families  drove  in  wagons  from  Paddy's  Run 
through  the  dense  forest  to  what  is  now  known  as  Gomer  in 
Allen  County .2  The  Welsh  of  Paddy's  Run  were  almost  all 
from  Montgomeryshire,  as  we  have  already  observed.  Now 
we  find  favorable  reports  going  from  Gomer  to  Llanbrynmair, 
Montgomeryshire  and  some  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Gomer 
soon  paid  visits  to  the  old  home  in  Wales  with  the  result  that 
a  large  immigration  into  Gomer  from  Llanbrynmair  was  soon 
realized. 


1  See   "The  Cambrian"   for  Nov.  1883,  p.  286  sq. ;   also   "The  Cambrian" 
for  Sept.  1907,  p.  295;  and  "Sefydliadau  Jackson  a  Gallia,"  p.  13. 

2  See  "The  Cambrian"  for  Oct.  1908,  p.  439;  also   "Hanes  Cymry  Amer- 
ica," p.  120. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  27 

THE  VENEDOCIA  SETTLEMENT  IN  VANWERT 
COUNTY 

For  the  Venedocia  Welsh  Settlement  Paddy  *s  Run  is  also 
responsible.  Governor  William  Bebb  purchased  two  or  three 
sections  of  land  in  what  is  now  Venedocia,  Vanwert  County. 
Through  the  influence  of  Governor  Bebb  his  cousin,  also  Wil- 
liam Bebb  by  name,  came  to  America  from  Llanbrynmair. 
He  lived  at  a  place  called  Rhiwgriafol,  and  was  known  as 
*'Bebb  Rhiwgriafol.'^ 

The  Bebbs  in  Wales  were  prominent  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dists, ^  and  William  Bebb  *  *  Rhiwgriaf ol* '  promised  his  friends 
and  relatives  before  leaving  home  that  he  would,  on  arriving 
in  America,  establish  a  Welsh  colony  the  religious  complexion 
of  which  would  be  Calvinistic  Methodist.  With  this  promise 
he  left  Wales  for  Paddy's  Run  in  1846  or  1847. 

In  April  1848  three  men,  William  Bebb  *'Rhiwgriafo^^ 
Thomas  Morris,  and  Richard  Jarvis  accompanied  by  their  re- 
spective families,  left  Paddy's  Run  for  Vanwert  County.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  present  large  and  prosperous  com- 
munity of  Welsh  people  in  Venedocia.^ 

THE  RADNOR  SETTLEMENT  IN  DELAWARE  COUNTY 

There  is  one  more  settlement  which  must  be  considered 
here  because  of  its  evident  bearing  on  the  early  Welsh  popu- 
lation of  Columbus,  Ohio,  although  it  bears  no  relation,  so  far 
as  we  can  learn,  to  the  pioneer  settlement  of  Paddy's  Run. 
It  is  the  Welsh  settlement  of  Radnor  in  Delaware  County. 
This  settlement  is  in  the  township  of  Radnor  near  the  north- 
west comer  of  the  county,  about  six  miles  north  of  the  city  of 
Delaware.  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  David  Pugh  from 
Radnorshire,  South  Wales,  was  the  first  to  purchase  land  here, 
buying  land  warrants  for  4,000  acres  from  Samuel  Jones  of 
Philadelphia.^ 

Pugh^  landed  in  Baltimore  in  1801  and  rode  on  horse-back 

1  See   "MethodiBtiaeth  Cymru"   Vol.  II.,  p.  246. 

2  See     "Hanes    Cymry    America,"     p.     122;    also     "Adroddiad    Pwyllgor 
Adeiladu  Capel  Newydd  Salem  Venedocia." 

3  See   "The  Cambrian"  for  August  1907,  p.  345. 

4  David  Pugh  is  the  ancestor  of  the  large  and  influential  Pugh  family  of 
Columbv^,  Ohio. 


28  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

all  the  way  from  Philadelphia  to  Radnor  to  see  his  purchase. 
He  then  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  arranged  with  a  Welsh- 
man by  the  name  of  Henry  Perry  from  Anglesea,  North 
Wales,  to  make  a  settlement  upon  the  tract. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1803  Perry  and  his  two  sons,  aged  13 
and  15,  erected  a  cabin  on  the  land  and  lived  in  it  that  winter. 
In  the  Spring  of  1804  Perry  left  his  boys  on  the  place  to  do 
for  themselves  while  he  returned  to  Baltimore  for  his  wife 
and  other  children.  In  1804  Pugh  returned  to  his  tract  and 
divided  it  into  lots  of  100  acres  each,  and  sold  the  farms  to 
other  settlers  who  came  there.  Many  Welsh  people  came  to 
Radnor  from  1804  to  1807  and  after  that  time  the  settlement 
enjoyed  a  prosperous  growth  for  at  least  twenty  years. 

PIONEER  LIFE 

Many  aspects  of  life  were  common  to  all  these  pioneer 
Welsh  communities.  The  region  into  which  they  came  was 
an  unbroken  forest,  covered  with  a  variety  of  timber  and  a 
thick  growth  of  underbrush.  The  water  supply  was  plentiful 
and  the  forest  gave  abundance  of  fruit  and  nuts  of  many 
varieties.  The  woods  abounded  with  game  and  the  streams 
teemed  with  fish.     Nature  provided  well  for  the  early  comers. 

The  first  task  of  the  pioneer  after  securing  his  land  was  to 
select  a  suitable  place  for  the  location  of  his  cabin.  The  first 
Welsh  settlers  sought  the  hills.  The  regions  into  which  they 
came  in  Butler,  Licking,  and  Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties 
were  hilly,  as  were  the  homes  of  former  Welsh  settlers  in 
Cambria  County  and  the  Great  Valley  region  in  Pennsylvania. 
Two  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  their  selecting  the  hills  for 
a  home.  First,  the  land  from  which  these  pioneer  Welshmen 
came  was  mountainous.  It  was  natural  that  they  should  chose 
a  place  similar  in  its  general  appearance  to  their  homeland. 
A  second  reason  for  their  seeking  the  hills  was  that  the  hill- 
tops were  healthier.  The  valleys  and  bottom  lands  while 
possessing  better  soil,  were  at  the  same  time  swampy,  the 
streams  were  sluggish  and  the  water  stagnant;  whereas  the 
hillsides  were  dry  and  from  their  slopes  welled  up  pure  and 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  29 

refreshing  springs  of  water  which  ran  in  streams  into  the 
valleys  below. 

The  first  cabins  were  generally  erected  near  a  spring  on 
the  hillside.  Before  the  early  settlers  of  Jackson  and  Gallia 
Counties  decided  to  make  that  region  their  final  abode  they 
commissioned  one  of  their  number  to  investigate  the  condi- 
tions of  the  soil  and  climate  in  the  Radnor  settlement  in  Dela- 
ware County.  The  man  returned  with  the  verdict  that  the 
region  about  Radnor  was  low  and  swampy  and  suggestive  of 
malaria.  The  Radnor  colony,  therefore,  is  the  one  exception 
of  the  early  pioneer  Welsh  of  Ohio  which  settled  in  a  region 
not  hilly,  for  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Radnor,  while  it  is 
not  entirely  flat,  is  only  slightly  rolling. 

After  living  for  a  generation  in  the  hill-country  the  Welsh 
began  to  move  out  of  the  hills  into  more  level  regions,  and  to 
make  settlements  there.  Thus  we  found  some  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Paddy's  Run  in  1833  migrating  to  Gomer  and  start- 
ing a  new  settlement  there;  others  from  the  same  place  went 
to  Venedocia  in  Vanwert  County  in  1848  to  establish  a  new 
settlement  in  that  place.  And  later,  during  the  '60s  we  find 
the  second  generation  leaving  the  hills  of  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  settlement  and  joining  their  countrymen  in  Vanwert 
County,  while  scores  of  others  left  for  the  prairies  in  Western 
States.i 

The  cabins  of  these  early  Welsh  pioneers  were  built  of 
logs  with  puncheon  floors  and  greased  paper  windows.  The 
doors  were  of  clapboards  fastened  with  wooden  hinges.  The 
logs  of  the  house  were  chinked  with  mud  of  clay,  as  were  also 
the  chimneys.  Their  houses  were  scantily  furnished  with 
home  made  furniture,  and  their  out-of-door  buildings  corres- 
ponded with  their  dwellings  in  point  of  architecture  and  fur- 
nishing in  general. 

These  Welsh  pioneers  possessed  qualities  of  great  endur- 
ance and  their  prominent  characteristics  were  industry,  fru- 
gality, deep  religious  convictions,  and  a  kind  and  helpful 


1     See    "The    Cambrian"    for    March    1885,    p.    78;    also    "Hanes    OjmTj 
America"  Part  II.,  p.  47. 


30  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

neighborly  spirit.  Their  co-operation  in  economic  activity 
showed  this.  They  had  their  cabin  ** raisings,"  their  ''roll- 
ings," ' '  ehoppings, "  and  ''huskings"  in  common,  and 
''butchering  day"  was  a  great  event.  The  women  also  had 
knitting  parties  and  quilting  bees.  When  new  comers  entered 
the  settlement  they  were  received  with  great  kindness  and  the 
spirit  of  hospitality  was  very  marked  at  such  a  time.  Neigh- 
bors entertained  new  arrivals  and  helped  them  clear  a  piece 
of  ground  and  to  raise  a  cabin  and  did  all  in  their  power  to 
make  things  home-like  and  comfortable  for  them. 

The  Family  and  the  Home  Training. — This  was  a  period 
of  large  families  in  the  Welsh  settlements,  the  families  ranged 
anywhere  from  six,  eight  to  ten  children  in  the  home,  and 
sometimes  twelve.  The  home  influence  and  training  were 
puritanic.  On  the  puncheon  floors  of  the  cabins  the  entire 
family  knelt  every  morning  and  every  evening  about  the 
family  altar.  These  early  families  knew  but  one  language 
and  one  Book.  They  all  spoke  Welsh  and  they  read  and 
studied  the  Welsh  Bible.  If  a  family  chanced  to  have  some 
book  aside  from  the  Bible  it  was  a  biblical  commentary,  or 
perhaps  a  biography  of  some  famous  Welsh  preacher.  Papers 
and  periodicals  were  scarcely  known  to  them  for  a  long  time, 
except  some  few  sent  from  Wales  and  these  generally  were  of 
a  religious  character. 

With  the  literature  at  their  disposal  the  parents  in  these 
humble  homes  were  diligent  in  instructing  their  children; 
evenings  were  spent  in  teaching  them  to  read  the  Welsh  Bible 
and  to  commit  verses  of  Scripture  to  memory.  The  younger 
children  learned  verses,  while  the  older  children  committed 
chapters  of  the  Gospels  and  Psalms  to  memory. 

Sabbath  Observance. — The  Sabbath  was  very  strictly  ob- 
served in  the  home.  All  shoes  had  to  be  shined  on  Saturday 
night  for  Simday.  Wood  and  water  enough  to  last  over  Sun- 
day had  to  be  brought  to  the  house  on  Saturday  evening.  If 
a  child  laughed  heartily  on  Sunday  he  was  censured  for  it, 
the  idea  being  that  such  laughter  could  only  issue  from  a 
spirit  of  levity  which   was   regarded   unworthy   of  the   day. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  31 

For  any  member  of  the  family  to  remain  home  from  church 
on  Sunday,  except  for  illness,  was  out  of  the  question.  A 
child  was  censured  for  picking  a  berry  from  a  bush  on  his  way 
from  Sunday  School.  To  sing  any  song  other  than  church 
hymns  was  not  allowed,  and  to  whistle  even  a  hymn  tune  was 
forbidden  as  one  of  the  unnecessary  things  on  Sunday.  To 
go  for  a  walk  on  Sunday  was  to  idle  the  time  away  and  to  go 
for  a  ride  would  be  definitely  to  break  the  Sabbath. 

The  diligence  with  which  these  parents  guided  their  child- 
ren and  gave  them  instruction  with  the  meagre  means  at  their 
disposal  is  certainly  praiseworthy,  and  their  reward  may  be 
seen  in  the  worthy  type  of  manhood  and  womanhood  which 
the  early  settlements  have  produced. 

RELIGIOUS  LIFE 

The  Church  Organization. — The  control  of  the  church  in  a 
typical  Welsh  community  is  remarkable.  The  church  occu- 
pied a  large  and  controlling  place  in  each  of  these  early  Welsh 
settlements.  But  the  power  of  the  church  organization  is 
more  marked  in  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  than  in  any 
other.  This  may  be  accounted  for  in  several  ways.  First  of 
all,  it  was  by  far  the  largest  of  the  early  settlements,  thus 
affording  opportunities  for  developing  a  community  life  of 
their  own  choice  without  compromises  with  other  people  about 
them.  In  the  next  place  they  were  all  from  the  same  part  of 
Wales;  they  were,  so  to  speak,  one  large  family.  They  were 
very  clannish  and  desired  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  their 
neighbors  of  other  nationalities.  They  spoke  the  Welsh  lan- 
guage and  were  determined  to  maintain  it.  Their  prevailing 
religious  persuasion  was  Calvanistic  Methodist  and  this  de- 
nomination lends  itself  readily  to  a  rigid  form  of  government. 

The  first  pastor  to  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  was 
the  Rev.  Robert  Williams.  Williams  was  a  man  of  austere 
character  and  of  domineering  disposition.  He  was  a  powerful 
preacher,  a  great  organizer,  and  an  untiring  worker.  He  was 
an  absolute  ruler  and  possessed  but  little  of  the  democratic 
spirit.     Apart  from  Robert  Williams  the  history  of  the  Jack- 


32  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

son  and  Gallia  settlement  cannot  be  related.  He  was  its  con- 
trolling figure  in  every  religious  undertaking.  Under  his 
leadership  the  religious  organization  of  the  settlement  was 
developed  and  carried  on  for  forty  years,  and  the  highly  or- 
ganized condition  of  the  settlement  in  a  religious  way  was 
very  largely  due  to  his  efforts.^ 

The  social  life  of  the  early  Welshman  centered  about  the 
church.  To  give  the  history  of  the  church  and  its  allied  in- 
stitutions is  to  explain  in  large  part  the  social  control  of  a 
Welsh  community. 

An  idea  of  the  strength  of  the  church  in  this  representative 
Welsh  community  may  be  gained  from  a  brief  resume  of  the 
institutions  of  the  church  as  they  grew  in  the  settlement. 
The  Sunday  School,  (Yr  Ysgol  Sul), — Sunday  School  is  a 
great  institution  with  the  Welsh.  The  text-book  in  the  Welsh 
Sunday  School  is  the  Bible.  Quarterlies  and  lesson  leaves 
are  not  used.  All  the  people  of  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  com- 
munity attended  Sunday  School,  both  young  and  old;  men 
and  women  as  well  as  children.  The  preparation  of  the  Sun- 
day School  lesson  was  the  task  for  the  week  at  home.  And 
the  Sunday  School  program  was  such  as  to  encourage  and 
stimulate  home  study. 

The  Sunday  School  Meeting,  (Cyfarfod  Ysgolion).  This 
was  held  on  week-days.  It  was  held  in  turn  at  every  church 
in  the  circuit.  Representatives  from  each  church  attended 
the  Sunday  School  Meeting,  and  reports  from  every  school  in 
the  circuit  were  read  there,  giving  record  of  attendance  and 
work  done.  Papers  were  read  by  delegates  on  subjects  per- 
taining to  Sunday  School  work  and  Bible  study.  This  stimu- 
lated active  work  in  the  home  schools  and  they  in  turn  en- 
couraged diligence  in  home  instruction  and  study. 

Annual  Sunday  School  Association  Meeting,  (Cyfarfod 
Ysgolion  Blynyddol).  This  annual  meeting  corresponded  to 
what  is  now  generally  known  as  Sunday  School  Institute.  It 
was  always  held  in  September.    Here  all  the  schools  of  the 


1     See    "Hanes    Ojmrj   America,"    p.    143;    also    "Sefydliadau   Jackson   a 
Gallia,"   p.   100;   and   "Coflant  Y  Parch  Robert  Williams,   Moriah,   Ohio." 


THE  COMING  OP  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  33 

settlement  gathered  once  a  year.  To  the  Sunday  School  bi- 
monthly meeting,  mentioned  above,  delegates  were  sent  from 
various  schools,  but  to  the  Annual  Association  Meeting  the 
whole  community  turned  out  bringing  their  picnic  lunches 
with  them  and  staying  for  the  day,  and  an  elaborate  program 
was  prepared  for  the  occasion. 

The  Bible  Society  Auxiliary, — (Y  Gymdeithas  Feiblau). 
This  society  was  organized  in  the  settlement  in  1845.  The 
society  held  two  meetings  annually,  in  convenient  centers; 
one  at  Oak  Hill  and  the  other  at  Centerville.  At  these  meet- 
ings reports  of  the  Bible  Society  were  read,  and  essays  and 
addresses  were  delivered  on  important  topics  pertaining  to  the 
work  of  the  Bible  Society. 

A  Class  in  Theology,  (Yr  Ysgol  Duwinyddol).  There  was 
for  many  years  a  large  class  in  Oak  Hill  known  as  Yr  Ysgol 
Duwinyddol,  or  School  of  Theology.  It  consisted  of  a  leader 
who  was  a  local  minister,  and  any  other  persons  of  serious 
purpose  who  desired  to  attend.  The  enrollment  in  this  school 
averaged  from  30  to  40  persons.     They  met  once  every  week. 

The  Presbytery  Meeting,  (Cyfarfod  Dosparth).  Presby- 
tery met  quarterly  and  it  lasted  two  days,  beginning  Tuesday 
evening  and  lasting  until  Thursday  afternoon.  One  morning 
session  was  devoted  to  business  and  the  rest  of  the  time  to 
listening  to  sermons  by  the  ministers,  two  men  preaching  at 
each  session. 

The  Synodical  Meeting,  (Y  Gymanfa).  The  Welsh  Synod 
of  Ohio  meets  twice  in  the  year,  and  once  in  every  two  years 
the  Synod  comes  to  the  settlement.  The  Gymanfa  used  to  be 
held  at  Moriah,  the  mother  church,  in  former  years,  but  in 
later  years  it  has  been  held  at  Oak  Hill,  this  place  being  more 
central.  The  Gymanfa  was  held  in  the  week  time,  the  public 
sessions  were  conducted  in  a  grove  near  the  church.  Any- 
where from  3,000  to  4,000  people  attended  this  great  meeting 
of  the  church.  The  following  is  the  program  of  the  Gymanfa : 
Tuesday  at  10:00  a.  m.  the  Gymanfa  convenes.  This  is  its 
first  business  session,  and  at  2:00  p.  m.  the  second  business 
session.    7 :00  p.  m.  public  service,  two  sermons.    Wednesday 


34  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


10 :00  a.  m.  business  session ;  Wednesday  2 :00  p.  m.  General 
Fellowship  Meeting;  6:00  or  7:00  p.  m.  public  service,  two 
sermons;  Thursday  10:00  a.  m.  public  service,  two  sermons; 
2 :00  p.  m.  public  service,  two  sermons ;  6 :00  p.  m.  public  ser- 
vice, two  sermons.  On  Friday,  post-Gymanfa  sessions  were 
held  and  the  order  was  as  follows:  Friday  10:00  a.  m.  two 
sermons ;  2 :00  p.  m.  two  sermons.  At  the  close  of  the  Friday 
afternoon  session  the  people  dispersed  and  went  home.  But 
this  was  not  all,  for  on  the  Sunday  following  all  the  visiting 
ministers  to  Synod  preached  on  the  circuit  while  the  local 
preachers  of  the  circuit  had  a  day  off. 

Visiting  Clergymen  to  the  settlement,  (Pregethwyr  ar 
Dro).  It  frequently  happened  that  a  preacher  from  Wales 
would  visit  the  settlement,  or  a  prominent  preacher  from 
some  other  Gymanfa  of  America,  and  when  he  came  he  was 
given  an  itinerary  through  the  settlement.  He  would  preach 
in  all  the  larger  churches,  and  this  would  be  generally  in  the 
week  time,  preaching  at  one  church  in  the  morning,  at  another 
at  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  a  church  in  one  of  the 
villages  in  the  evening.  Farmers  would  drop  all  their  work, 
even  in  mid  harvest,  to  follow  the  preacher  from  church  to 
church. 

From  the  above  list  of  church  institutions  and  meetings, 
one  may  gain  an  idea  of  the  highly  organized  condition  of  the 
settlement  in  a  religious  way  and  the  prominent  place  given 
to  preaching  the  gospel.  They  had  their  regular  weekly 
prayer  meetings  and  fellowship  meetings  in  each  church,  and 
in  the  winter  season  they  had  singing  schools  and  literary 
meetings  in  the  different  neighborhoods.  We  can  readily  see 
how  the  church  kept  the  peoj)le  busy  and  occupied  preparing 
for  these  great  functions. 

GROWTH 

The  size  of  a  Welsh  colony  may  be  fairly  well  estimated 

by  the  number  of  churches  established,  and  the  rapidity  with 

which  the  colony  grew  may  be  conjectured  from  the  rate  at 

which  new  churches  were  erected  in  a  given  period.     The  de- 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  35 

cline  of  the  community  as  a  distinctively  Welsh  community 
may  be  measured  by  the  decline  of  the  church  as  a  Welsh 
church.     This  is  particularly  true  of  rural  districts. 

The  first  thing  the  Welsh  pioneer  provides  for,  after  the 
immediate  care  of  the  home,  is  the  religious  welfare  of  the 
community  life.  In  Paddy's  Run  a  Congregational  church 
was  organized  in  1803  with  ten  charter  members,  six  of  whom 
were  Welsh.  Paddy's  Run  was  at  no  time  a  pure  Welsh 
colony.  From  the  very  beginning  the  Welsh  of  this  commu- 
nity mingled  with  people  of  other  nationalities.  Its  Welsh 
population  numbered  about  500  to  600  in  its  most  flourishing 
period,  from  1830  to  1850.  During  that  time  the  church  was 
practically  a  Welsh  church  with  some  English  preaching.  It 
was  a  Congregational  Church  because  the  Welsh  who  came 
there  from  Montgomeryshire  were  Congregationalists. 

The  pioneers  of  the  Welsh  Hills  were  Baptists.  They  at 
one  time  belonged  to  the  Union  Church^  at  Ebensburg,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  controlling  spirit  of  that  church,  the  Rev. 
Morgan  Rees,  was  a  Baptist,  and  the  whole  church  was  very 
soon  influenced  by  his  persuasion.  The  result  was  that  when 
the  Welsh  settled  in  Licking  County  the  church  was  organized 
as  a  Baptist  church  in  1808.  No  less  than  thirty  of  the  earli- 
est communicants  in  this  church  had  previously  been  members 
of  the  Union  Church  in  Ebensburg. 

In  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  the  first  families  who 
came  there  in  1818  worshipped  with  the  Methodist  Episco- 
palians in  a  nearby  community.  But  when  the  new  tide  of 
Welsh  immigration  arose  in  1834  the  Welsh  began  to  hold 
their  own  religious  meetings,  and  to  conduct  them  in  their 
own  language.  The  prevailing  religious  persuasion  of  the 
Cardiganshire  Welsh  is  Calvinistic  Methodist,  hence  the  pre- 
vailing church  in  this  settlement  is  Calvinistic  Methodist.  In 
1836  the  inhabitants  of  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  colony  erected 
their  first  church.  So  tremendous  was  the  influx  of  Welsh 
from  Cardiganshire  that  churches  began  to  spring  up  year  by 

1      See   "The  Cambrian"   for'Aujrust  1907,  p.  346. 


36  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

year  in   other   neighborhoods   in   every   direction   from   the 
mother  church. 

The  writer  knows  of  no  better  way  to  illustrate  this  fact 
of  rapid  growth  than  by  enumerating  the  churches  of  Jackson 
and  Gallia  and  giving  the  date  of  their  organization,  and 
thereby  endeavor  to  show  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Welsh 
immigrants  came  into  the  different  neighborhoods  of  the  set- 
tlement. The  churches  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  denom- 
ination run  as  follows: — Moriah,  the  mother  church,  was  or- 
ganized in  1835;  Horeb,  1838;  Centerville,  1840;  Bethel, 
1841 ;  Soar,  1841 ;  Sardis,  1843 ;  Bethania,  1847 ;  Tabor,  1848 ; 
Oak  Hill,  1851;  Bethseda,  1856;  Salem,  1862;  Penuel,  1870; 
Jackson,  1880.  While  the  Calvinistic  Methodists  were  busy 
organizing  churches,  other  denominations  were  likewise  en- 
gaged though  in  point  of  number  and  strength  they  were 
eclipsed  by  the  Calvinistic  Methodists.  The  Congregational- 
ists  during  this  period  built  six  or  seven  churches.  The  first 
of  the  Congregational  churches  was  built  at  Oak  Hill  in  1840. 
The  Baptists  had  four  churches  and  the  Wesleyans  one.  Thus 
it  appears  that  some  24  or  25  churches  were  built  by  the  Welsh 
of  this  settlement.  Aside  from  these  churches  many  Welsh 
Sunday  Schools  were  organized  in  neighborhoods  where 
churches  did  not  exist. 

In  Gomer,  Allen  County,  the  first  church  was  built  in  1845. 
This  was  a  Congregational  church.  The  Welsh  colony  grew 
in  numbers  and  has  kept  its  Congregational  spirit  throughout. 
Gomer  and  its  environs  constitute  the  stronghold  of  Welsh 
Congregationalism  in  Ohio.  Besides  the  Gomer  church  there 
were  two  or  three  other  Welsh  congregational  churches  in  the 
Gomer  settlement. 

In  Venedocia,  Vanwert  County,  the  three  families  who 
came  there  in  1848,  held  religious  worship  the  first  Sunday 
after  their  arrival.  They  worshipped  in  their  cabins,  princi- 
pally at  Bebb's,  until  1853  when  their  first  church  was  built. 
The  church  in  this  settlement  is  Calvinistic  Methodist.  Many 
who  came  into  this  neighborhood  were  Congregationalists  from 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WELSH  TO  OHIO  37 

Llanbrynmair,  North  Wales,  but  the  prevailing  tendency  was 
Calvinistic  Methodist  and  that  persuasion  controlled.  There 
were  at  one  time  four  churches  in  this  group,  all  of  which 
were  Calvinistic  Methodist,  though  one  of  them  was  organized 
as  a  Union  Church  of  Welsh  Congregationalists  and  Calvinis- 
tic Methodists,  but  under  the  control  of  the  Calvinists.  One 
of  the  four  churches  has  since  been  abandoned.  The  immi- 
gration on  the  part  of  the  Welsh  from  Jackson  and  Gallia 
Counties  in  the  '60s  helped  to  make  Venedocia  Calvinistic 
Methodist. 

We  have  then  the  following  four  distinct  Welsh  settle- 
ments in  Ohio  for  which  Paddy's  Run  is  in  some  way  respon- 
sible :  the  Welsh  Hills  settlement  in  Licking  County  the  popu- 
lation of  which  in  its  strongest  period  was  about  400  or  500, 
with  a  Baptist  church  as  the  prevailing  type  of  religious  per- 
suasion, though  other  denominations  organized  their  churches 
later ;  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  with  a  population  of 
from  5,000  to  6,000,  and  its  prevailing  religious  denomination 
is  Calvinistic  Methodist;  the  Gomer  settlement  with  a  popu- 
lation of  about  1,000  or  1,500  and  the  Congregational  church 
in  control ;  the  Venedocia  settlement  in  Vanwert  County  with 
a  population  similar  to  that  of  Gomer,  or  larger,  and  the 
church  in  power  there  is  Calvinistic  Methodist. 

The  Radnor  settlement  numbered  about  600  to  800  and  its 
first  church  was  Congregational  though  other  denominations 
erected  their  churches  later. 

All  these  settlements  have  had  their  influence  in  con- 
tributing to  the  make-up  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  as 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  observe  later.  Radnor  and  the 
Welsh  Hills  were  early  sources  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  and 
the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  along  with  Venedocia  have 
given  much  to  Columbus  in  later  years. 

Each  of  these  Welsh  settlements  has  reached  its  summit  as 
a  flourishing  community  of  the  Welsh  type,  and  is  now 
descending  the  hill  on  the  other  side.  The  communities  are 
rapidly  becoming  assimilated  into  the  great  American  people. 


38  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

In  Paddy  ^s  Run,  the  Welsh  Hills,  and  Radnor  the  Welsh 
language  has  passed  out  of  use  in  the  church  and  home.  In 
Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties  the  language  is  still  in  use  but 
is  rapidly  being  supplanted  by  the  English.  In  Gomer  the 
change  is  rapidly  taking  place  and  in  Venedocia  as  well, 
though  the  Welsh  tongue  prevails  as  yet  in  the  latter  in  the 
church  service. 

The  descendants  of  the  early  Welsh  families  still  live  in 
these  communities,  scores  of  them,  and  many  of  them  are  well- 
to-do  farmers.  The  land  in  Paddy's  Run  is  worth  from  $75.00 
to  $125.00  per  acre  and  in  the  Welsh  Hills  it  is  about  the  same. 
In  Radnor,  Gomer,  and  Venedocia  farms  are  worth  anywhere 
from  $150.00  to  $250.00  per  acre.  The  descendants  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  have  not  fared 
so  well.  The  land  there  has  not  increased  in  value,  as  it  has 
in  the  other  settlements,  after  improvement.  Some  of  the 
land  is  worth  only  from  $6.00  to  $10.00  per  acre  today,  though 
many  of  the  children  of  the  early  settlers  are  now  well-to-do 
owing  to  interests  in  other  enterprises  such  as  coal  mines,  iron 
furnaces,^  and  the  clay-brick  industry.  But  the  large  majori- 
ty of  them  are  on  the  farms. 


1     See   "The  Cambrian"   for  August   1891,  p.  225. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS 
The  Location  and  Early  History  of  Columbus 

Columbus,  the  capital  of  Ohio  and  the  seat  of  Franklin 
County,  is  situated  near  the  geographical  center  of  the  State 
on  the  banks  of  the  Scioto  River,  its  business  portion  being 
just  where  the  Olentangy  River  empties  into  the  Scioto.  The 
site  of  Columbus  was  at  one  time  occupied  by  the  Wyandot 
and  other  Indian  tribes. 

The  site  was  selected  for  the  capital  of  Ohio  by  the  legis- 
lature in  1812,  partly  as  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  four  citi- 
zens of  Franklinton  who  had  **  formed  a  company  to  establish 
the  State  Capital  on  the  high  banks  of  the  Scioto  River  oppo- 
site Franklinton.'*  Columbus  thus  got  its  existence  by  the 
legislative  act  creating  a  home  for  the  Capitol  of  Ohio  on  a 
site  which  was  then  practically  an  unbroken  forest. 

The  town  was  laid  out  in  the  spring  of  1812,  and  on  the 
18th  of  June  in  the  same  year  the  first  land  was  sold  at  pub- 
lic sale.  In  1815  the  first  census  was  taken  and  the  population 
at  that  time  was  700.  In  1816  the  town  was  incorporated  as 
the  borough  of  Columbus;  in  1824  Columbus  was  made  the 
seat  of  Franklin  County,  and  it  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in 
1834. 

Immediately  after  the  town  had  been  laid  out  improve- 
ments were  begun  and  streets  were  platted.  In  1825  the  Ohio 
Canal,  from  Cleveland  on  Lake  Erie  to  Portsmouth  on  the 
Ohio  River,  was  commenced,  and  was  completed  in  1838.  The 
Columbus  ** feeder*'  from  Columbus  to  Lockbume,  a  distance 
of  eleven  miles,  was  completed  in  1831.  This  gave  Columbus 
water  communication  with  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River.  In 
1836  the  National  Road  from  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  to 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  passed  through  Columbus.  The  San- 
duskey  turnpike,  extending  north  from  Columbus  to  San- 


40  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

duskey  on  Lake  Erie,  and  other  roads  were  in  process  of  con- 
struction during  this  period  all  of  which  entered  this  mecca 
in  the  center  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  In  1841  the  first  railroad 
in  Ohio  was  begun  and  in  1850  the  first  train  steamed  into 
Columbus  over  what  was  then  the  Columbus  and  Xenia  Rail- 
road.^ 

After  the  town  had  been  laid  out  and  improvements  be- 
gun Ohio's  Capital  was  destined  to  grow.  The  building  of 
the  State  institutions  meant  that  here  was  employment  for 
men  engaged  in  many  forms  of  labor,  and  thither  they  came 
in  large  numbers.  These  great  institutions  of  the  State  gave 
employment  to  hundreds  of  men  as  well  as  did  the  canal,  the 
public  highways  and  the  railroads  of  the  same  period,  to  say 
nothing  of  other  great  building  projects  of  a  public  and  pri- 
vate nature  during  that  time. 

Contemporary  with  the  rise  of  the  great  State  institutions 
was  the  development  of  industries  in  Columbus.  From  its 
very  location,  in  the  center  of  a  great  industrial  State  and 
region,  and  its  proximity  to  the  great  coal  fields  of  Ohio, 
Columbus  was  destined  to  become  an  important  industrial 
center.  The  growth  of  industry  meant  the  rise  of  commerce. 
And  presently,  from  1850  on,  we  find  railroad  systems  de- 
veloping in  central  Ohio  until  today  there  are  about  15  rail- 
roads which  enter  the  city.  An  idea  of  the  rapid  growth  of 
Columbus  may  be  obtained  from  a  glance  at  Table  I.  below. 
The  table  after  the  first  two  figures  is  taken  from  the  United 
States  Census  Report  for  1910. 

TABLE  I. 
General  Population  from  1815  to  1910 

1815 700 

1820 1,400 

1830 2,435 

1840 6,048 

1850 17,882 

1860 18,554 

1  See  "Historical  Collections  of  Ohio"  Vol.  I.  Chapter  on  Franklin 
County. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  41 

1870 31,247 

1880 51,647 

1890 88,150 

1900 125,560 

1910 181,511 

We  have  gone  sufficiently  into  the  investigation  of  the 
growth  of  Columbus  to  show  that  at  a  very  early  day  it  pre- 
sented great  attractions  to  immigrants  especially  those  of  the 
artisan  or  skilled  labor  class.  We  are  concerned  here  primar- 
ily, not  with  the  growth  of  Columbus  as  such,  but  particularly 
with  a  certain  group  of  immigrants  who  came  to  the  city,  viz. 
the  Welsh  who  came  to  Columbus. 

Just  how  early  in  the  history  of  Columbus  the  Welsh  en- 
tered is  impossible  to  ascertain.  But  that  Welsh  legislators 
had  a  part  in  selecting  the  site  of  Columbus  and  in  giving  it 
a  name  is  evident.  Resolutions  in  the  legislature  referring  to 
the  site  and  the  name  were  offered  by  two  men  by  the  names 
of  Edwards  and  Evans.  And  when  the  final  vote  was  taken 
on  these  resolutions  six  Welsh  names  appear  on  the  roll  call, 
viz.  for  the  affirmative  are  the  names  of  Evans,  Edwards,  T. 
Morris  and  D.  Morris;  on  the  negative  side  the  names  of  J. 
Jones  and  T.  G.  Jones.  Among  the  17  citizens  who  had  set- 
tled in  Columbus  as  early  as  1813  one  name  appears  which 
may  be  that  of  a  Welshman,  viz.  Jarvis.^ 

LOCATION  ADVANTAGEOUS  TO  THE  WELSH 

We  have  no  record  that  the  Welsh  came  to  Columbus  as 
pioneer  settlers  as  we  found  them  in  the  settlements  of  Paddy 's 
Run,  the  Welsh  Hills,  ** Jackson  and  Gallia,"  and  the  other 
settlements  studied  in  Chapter  II.  In  fact  we  know  next  to 
nothing  concerning  the  Welsh  in  Columbus  previous  to  1820. 

The  position  of  Columbus,  however,  with  reference  to  two 
Welsh  settlements  in  particular  was  very  advantageous,  viz. 
the  Welsh  Hills  in  Licking  County  and  the  Radnor  settlement 
in  Delaware  County.     These  two  regions  had  been  settled  by 

1  See  "Historical  Collections  of  Ohio"  Vol.  I.,  article  by  E.  O.  Randall, 
p.  618  so.;  also  "Some  Facts  with  Reference  to  the  Welsh  of  Oolnmbus,  Ohio 
from  its  Earliest  Times  up  to  1860,"  p.  6. 


42  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

the  Welsh  more  than  a  decade  before  Columbus  came  into 
existence.  The  Welsh  Hills  settlement  was  about  30  or  35 
miles  to  the  East  and  a  little  northeast  of  Columbus,  and  the 
Radnor  settlement  was  about  the  same  distance  to  the  North. 
It  is  most  natural  that  the  young  men  who  grew  up  in  these 
settlements,  as  demand  for  workmen  increased  in  Columbus, 
should  turn  to  Columbus  for  employment  and  that  their 
friends  and  countrymen  who  migrated  from  Wales  should  fol- 
low them  in  their  search  for  work  in  the  rapidly  growing  city. 
The  Welsh  people  of  these  two  communities  were  in  constant 
communication  with  friends  and  relatives  in  Wales  and  they 
informed  them  of  the  great  opportunities  offered  to  workmen 
in  Ohio's  Capital. 

PERIODS  OF  WELSH  MIGRATION 
While  we  have  no  definite  trace  of  Welsh  immigration  to 
Columbus  previous  to  1820,  from  that  time  on,  until  the  pres- 
ent day,  Welsh  immigration  in  one  form  or  another  has  con- 
tinued. Welsh  migration  to  Columbus  falls  naturally  into 
three  periods,  viz:  from  1820  to  1860;  from  1860  to  1885; 
from  1885  to  the  present  time.  The  first  period  may  be  de- 
signated as  the  Period  of  Foreign  Welsh  Immigration  to  Co- 
lumbus. The  second  period,  marks  the  decline  of  foreign 
Welsh  immigration  and  a  gradual  rise  of  immigration  on  the 
part  of  the  Welsh  from  local  communities  in  the  States, 
especially  from  communities  in  Ohio.  The  third  period  marks 
the  cessation  of  foreign  Welsh  immigration  and  the  rapid 
growth  of  immigration  from  local  settlements  in  Ohio. 

THE  FIRST  PERIOD 

The  first  period  (1820-1860)  may  again  be  subdivided  in- 
to two  smaller  periods,  viz.  from  1820  to  1840 ;  and  from  1840 
to  1860.  From  1820  to  1840,  the  immigration  to  Columbus 
was  more  or  less  indirect  and  was  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
Welsh  Hills  and  Radnor  settlements.  People  would  come 
from  Wales  to  join  their  friends  and  relatives  in  these  colonies 
and  in  time  would  drift  into  Columbus  to  find  employment. 

As  early  as  1822  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Thomas 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  43 

in  company  with  others  owned  and  operated  a  woolen  mill  for 
carding,  spinning  and  weaving.  In  the  same  year  Thomas 
Cadwallader,  John  0.  Richards  and  Morgan  Powell  came  to 
Columbus.  By  the  year  1824  a  sufficient  number  of  Welsh 
people  had  arrived  to  constitute  a  church,  when  a  Welsh  Bap- 
tist church  was  organized.^  The  influence  of  the  Welsh  Hills 
settlement  may  be  seen  here,  for  they  were  Baptists,  and  the 
first  preacher  to  the  new  society  at  Columbus  was  a  Rev.  0. 
Owens  from  Granville,  Ohio. 

EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  AGITATED  IN  WALES 

Beginning  with  1840  and  continuing  until  within  a  few 
years  of  the  Civil  War  we  find  a  great  increase  of  direct  im- 
migration from  Wales  to  Columbus.  They  came  from  Mont- 
gomeryshire in  North  Wales.  This  was  the  county  from  which 
Ezekiel  Hughes  and  Edward  Bebb  had  come  with  their  com- 
pany of  Welsh  immigrants  in  1795 ;  conditions  in  Wales  were 
oppressive  at  that  time  and  up  to  the  middle  of  the  19th  cen- 
tury had  not  improved  but  rather  had  grown  worse. 

Samuel  Roberts,  a  cousin  to  Governor  Bebb,  was  a  Congre- 
gational preacher  of  great  power.  His  influence  in  that  day, 
(the  '40s  and  '50s),  was  mighty  with  the  Welsh  of  Montgom- 
eryshire and  throughout  Wales.  He  took  upon  himself  to 
champion  the  cause  of  the  poor  tenant  farmer  of  his  parish  in 
Montgomeryshire  and  of  the  country  round  about  Llanbryn- 
mair.  He  pled  with  the  landlords  and  stewards  for  fair 
play.  Having  done  all  he  could  in  this  way,  but  without  re- 
sult he  began  to  attack  them  and  to  denounce  landlordism 
bitterly.  His  efforts  to  change  things  in  Wales  were  futile, 
but  he  did  accomplish  something  definite.  He  succeeded  in 
arousing  a  spirit  of  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of 
the  Welsh  tenant  farmer,  with  the  result  that  scores  and 
hundreds  of  the  Montgomeryshire  Welsh  emigrated  to  Ameri- 
ca in  the  two  decades  from  1840  to  1860.  A  great  many  of 
these  came  directly  to  Columbus,  while  scores  also  came  into 
Gomer  and  Venedocia,  and  hundreds  settled  in  Western  States. 


1     See  "Some  Facts  with  Reference  to  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  &c."  p.  8  sq. 


44  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  following  article  published  in  *'Y  Cronicl/'  a  Welsh 
periodical,  for  July  1852,  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  spirit  of 
Rev.  Samuel  Roberts'  agitation  and  his  method  of  work.^ 

"The  greater  part  of  the  agricultural  communities  of  the 
Principality  has  suffered  a  great  deal  of  insult  and  of  mal- 
treatment. The  landlords  and  stewards  have  for  many  years 
oppressed  their  most  faithful  tenants,  and  it  is  very  difficult 
to  arouse  them  to  a  sense  of  the  unfairness  and  foolishness, 
and  the  consequent  loss  to  themselves,  of  their  oppressive  con- 
duct. They  would  do  well  to  study  the  following  short  chap- 
ter of  *  *  Facts  Concerning  Emigration. ' ' 

"1.  This  morning  over  70  people,  most  of  them  young 
and  in  the  flower  of  life,  left  Llanbrynmair  for  America. 

2.  A  larger  number  than  that  left  a  neighboring  com- 
munity just  recently. 

3.  There  are  several  families  now  arranging  their  affairs 
so  as  to  be  prepared  to  leave  in  the  Autumn  or  early  Spring 

4.  Five  or  six  such  large  companies,  to  say  nothing  of 
lesser  groups,  have  left  this  neighborhood  within  a  few  years. 

5.  Similar  groups  are  leaving  other  communities,  and 
they  are  increasing  all  the  while. 

6.  The  old  families  would  not  leave  the  land  of  their 
fathers  if  there  was  any  hope  of  earning  a  living  at  home. 

7.  Hundreds  of  those  who  left  this  community  in  recent 
years  are  doing  well  in  America.  And  they  are  continually 
not  only  urging  their  friends  to  follow  them,  but  they  are 
ready  to  send  aid  to  their  poor  relatives  to  pay  their  transpor- 
tation. 

8.  Within  two  months  the  writer  has  received  £80  from  a 
young  workman  in  America  toward  paying  the  passage  of 
some  of  those  who  left  here  this  very  morning. 

9.  The  inducements  to  emigrate  are  rapidly  increasing. 
Five  pounds  is  almost  enough  to  pay  the  way  of  a  strong 
young  man,  or  a  rosy  cheeked  young  woman,  from  the  bare 


1     See   "Cofiant  Y  Tri  Brawd  o  Lanbrynmair  a  Conwy,"   p.   50  sq.   where 
this  article  ie  quoted. 


THE  WELSH  OP  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  45 

and   fruitless   slopes   Plimlimmon   and   Cader   Idris  to   the 
wealthy  valleys  of  Ohio  and  Missouri. 

10.  The  increase  in  traveling  facilities  together  with  the 
certainty  of  higher  wages,  better  board,  etc.  are  a  great  induce- 
ment to  young  people,  who  are  strong  and  ambitious,  to  emi- 
grate from  this  land  of  poverty  and  oppression  to  a  country 
where  the  rights  of  labor  and  religion  are  given  more  protec- 
tion and  fair  play  than  they  are  receiving  here. 

11.  The  time  to  persuade  a  diligent  laborer  and  a  skilled 
workman  to  remain  in  Wales  to  half  starve  themselves,  when 
they  can  receive  for  their  services  such  fine  wages  in  markets 
which  are  so  inviting,  free  and  convenient,  is  past. 

12.  The  population  of  this  vicinity  is  less  according  to 
the  last  census  than  it  was  when  the  previous  census  was 
taken,  and  it  would  be  still  smaller  were  it  not  that  strangers 
had  recently  come  into  our  woolen  mills. 

13.  The  fact  that  continual  decrease  is  experienced  in  an 
agricultural  district,  which  is  thinly  populated,  is  a  sure  sign 
that  there  is  here  some  glaring  unfairness  on  the  part  of  land- 
lords and  stewards. 

14.  The  best  class  of  tenants  are  forced  to  believe  that 
the  day  is  near  at  hand  when  they  too  must  give  up  their 
farms  and  follow  their  friends  and  relatives  in  the  search  for 
better  and  cheaper  farms  on  the  great  Western  Continent,  and 
they  can  easily  secure  them. 

15.  It  is  not  easy  for  the  landlords  now  to  imagine  the 
loss  to  themselves  and  to  their  children  because  of  banishing 
these  faithful,  diligent,  and  economical  tenants  from  their 
farms.  And  they  certainly  will  repent,  when  it  is  too  late, 
for  treading  under  foot  so  cruelly  the  rights  of  the  people  who 
have  served  them  with  so  much  self-denial  and  faithfulness, 
endeavoring  through  a  score  of  narrow  straits  to  meet  their 
rents. 

16.  The  landlords  and  stewards  will  never  again  have  the 
opportunity  to  oppress  tenants  so  obedient,  humble,  and  sub- 
missive as  those  they  are  now  crushing  to  ruin.    The  old 


46  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

schemes  of  inducing  the  inexperienced  and  of  ensnaring  them 
have  been  worn  thread-bare.  The  door  of  hope,  to  diligence 
and  labor,  is  open.  The  great  continents  of  America  and  Au- 
stralia are  open  to  receive,  reward,  and  honor  the  skilled  work- 
man, the  faithful  shepherd,  the  honest  laborer  and  the  op- 
pressed tenant. ' ' 

Add  to  this  form  of  agitation  on  the  part  of  Welsh  leaders 
in  Wales  the  visits  made  to  Wales  by  individuals  of  influence 
who  went  back  to  Montgomeryshire  from  Ohio,  and  we  have 
another  direct  incentive  to  Welsh  emigration.  We  shall  here 
mention  one  such  person  who  exerted  a  great  deal  of  influence 
in  bringing  many  Montgomeryshire  Welsh  to  Ohio  and  to 
Columbus. 

Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw  came  to  Radnor,  Ohio,  with  his  parents 
when  a  boy  of  ten  years,  in  1821.  Within  a  few  weeks  aftei 
their  arrival  Chidlaw 's  father  died  and  the  boy  was  left  to 
care  for  his  widow^ed  mother.  Chidlaw  received  his  early  re- 
ligious training  at  home  with  his  mother  and  in  the  log  chapel 
near  Radnor.  He  got  his  elementary  education  in  the  log 
school-house  in  the  same  neighborhood.  In  August,  1829 
Chidlaw  walked  from  Radnor  to  Granville,  Ohio,  in  order  to 
study  Latin  and  Greek,  preparatory  to  entering  the  Ohio  Uni- 
versity at  Athens  later  that  year.  In  November  he  entered 
the  Ohio  University.  A  year  or  two  later  he  entered  the 
Miami  University  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  walking  all  the  way  from 
Radnor  to  Oxford,  a  distance  of  125  miles.  In  1835  he  gradu- 
ated from  Miami  University  and  was  licensed  to  preach  by 
the  Oxford  Presbytery.  At  the  same  time  he  received  a  call 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  Paddy's  Run  Congregational  Church. 
Before  taking  up  work  in  this  important  field  Chidlaw  decided 
to  make  a  trip  to  Wales  with  a  view  of  improving  his  Welsh, 
the  church  at  Paddy's  Run  at  that  time  being  carried  on  for 
the  most  part  in  the  Welsh  language. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1835  Chidlaw  spent  two  months  in 
Wales  and  preached  week-days  and  Sundays  practically  all 
the  time  he  was  there.     In  1839  he  made  a  second  trip  to 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  47 

Wales  and  this  time  he  stayed  there  eight  months.  He  was 
given  an  extensive  itinerary  in  the  vicinity  of  his  old  home  in 
Montgomeryshire.  Chidlaw  preached  daily  and  met  with  en- 
thusiastic inquirers  wherever  he  went.  People  who  wanted  to 
learn  more  about  life  and  opportunities  in  America,  and 
especially  in  Ohio,  met  him  at  every  turn.^  Chidlaw  was  a 
great  agitator  of  ** America  for  the  Welsh,'*  and  the  fact  of 
his  being  a  Welsh  preacher  reared  and  educated  in  Ohio  en- 
couraged them  in  the  belief  that  there  were  religious  oppor- 
tunities in  this  country  as  well  as  chances  for  improvement  in 
a  material  way. 

We  insert  the  following  illustration  of  Chidlaw  *s  agitation 
on  his  preaching  tours  in  Wales.     It  is  a  story  of  personal  ex- 
perience told  by  Mr.  Edward  Pryce  of  Columbus  who  is  now 
the  oldest  Welsh  resident  of  the  city.     "I  came  to  Columbus,'* 
said  Mr.  Pryce  in  an  interview,  *  *  in  1840.     At  that  time  I  was  / 
a  lad  of  seven  years.     The  Welsh  of  that  period  were  nearly  j 
all  from  Montgomeryshire.     Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw  put  us  in  ! 
the  notion  of  coming  to  America.     He  was  a  preacher  who  j 
lived  with  his  mother  at  Radnor  and  had  come  back  to  Mont- 
gomeryshire for  a  visit.     I  well  remember  the  night  he  spent  ( 
at  our  home.     He  wore  boots.     That  was  the  first  time  for  me  { 
ever  to  see  boots  on  a  man 's  feet,  and  what  puzzled  me  was  j 
how  he  could  ever  get  them  off.     I  remember  it  as  well  as^' 
yesterday.  j 

**  Chidlaw  told  us  of  the  great  advantages  for  raising 
children  in  America.  My  mother  took  it  all  in  for  she  ha^ 
seven  children.  And  she  decided  then  and  there  to  come  herd. 
Father  objected  to  coming,  but  mother  prevailed  and  we  cam^, 
arriving  in  Columbus  in  June  1840,  and  I  have  lived  here 
ever  since." 

In  addition  to  the  deplorable  economic  and  social  condi- 
tions in  Wales,  revealed  in  Samuel  Roberts'  agitation,  which 
stimulated  migration  together  with  the  influence  of  individu- 
als, like  Chidlaw,  who  visited  their  old  homes  and  others  who 
wrote  glowing  accounts  concerning  life  and  opportunities  in 


1     See   "The  Story  of  My  Life,"  Ch.  V.,  p.  82. 


48  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHia 

Columbus  we  have  the  fact  of  improved  transportation  facili- 
ties in  this  period.  The  National  Road  from  Wheeling,  West 
Virginia,  on  the  Ohio  River  was  completed.  Also  the  San- 
duskey  Turnpike  which  connected  Columbus  with  Lake  Erie 
by  land.  And  still  more  attractive  to  the  immigrant  was  the 
Ohio  Canal,  which  brought  Columbus  into  water  communica- 
tion with  the  Ohio  River  and  Lake  Erie.  Immigrants  who 
landed  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  came  overland  to  Pitts- 
burg, then  down  the  Ohio  River  to  Portsmouth,  thence  up  the 
Canal  to  Columbus.  Others  came  from  the  North  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  through  the  lakes  to  Cleveland  and  from 
Cleveland  down  the  Canal  to  Columbus.  We  have  record  of 
Welsh  immigrants  coming  to  Columbus  by  both  these  routes. 
And  we  have  finally  to  mention  the  development  of  the  rail- 
roads after  1850  which  eclipsed  all  other  modes  of  travel. 

THE  WELSH  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD  WERE 
SKILLED  LABORERS  ^ 
An  old  City  Directory  of  Columbus  (1842-1843)  contains 
the  names  of  38  Welsh  people.  Five  are  names  of  females, 
five  are  of  males  whose  occupations  are  not  mentioned.  The 
names  of  28  males  appear  whose  occupations  are  given. 
Twenty-three  of  the  twenty-eight  named  were  skilled  laborers. 
The  little  pamphlet  by  Mr.  L.  D.  Davis,  entitled  *'Some  Facts 
with  References  to  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  Ohio  from  the 
Earliest  Times  up  to  I860,''  gives  a  brief  obituary  mention 
of  many  of  the  early  Welsh  of  Columbus,  giving  (i)  the  date 
of  their  birth;  (ii)  the  date  of  their  marriage;  (iii)  the  part 
of  Wales  from  which  they  came ;  (iv)  the  year  of  their  arrival 
in  Columbus;  (v)  their  occupation  and  religious  preference, 
and  (vi)  the  date  of  their  death.  This  booklet  reveals  the 
fact  that  at  least  three-fourths  of  theWelsh  who  came  to  Co- 
lumbus previous  to  1860  came  from  Montgomeryshire  and 
that  a  very  large  percent  of  them  were  skilled  laborers,  and 
among  them  a  great  many  carpenters  and  plasterers. 

1  Just  how  many  of  the  early  Welsh  were  skilled  laborers  when  they 
came  to  the  city  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining,  perhaps  not  many  for  the 
large  majority  of  them  came  from  an  agricultural  district  in  Wales,  but  on 
their  arrival  in  Columbus  they  evidently  applied  themselves  to  the  trades. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  49 

The  Welsh  were  found  working  in  the  different  industries 
such  as  the  John  Demming  Threshing  Machine  Company,  and 
Neil  and  Moore's  Coach  Shop,  the  Joseph  Ridgeway  Com- 
pany, manufacturers  of  all  kinds  of  machinery,  and  other 
similar  places. 

THE  SECOND  PERIOD 

The  second  period  (1860-1885)  marks  the  gradual  decline 
of  direct  foreign  immigration  from  Wales  to  Columbus  and  a 
corresponding  rise  of  immigration  from  the  local  Welsh  settle- 
ments. The  decline  of  immigration  from  Wales  was  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  other  States  west  of  Ohio  were  offering 
tempting  attractions  to  immigrants.  The  booming  of  Western 
States  appealed  to  the  poor  immigrant  from  Wales.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  Welsh  immigrants  entered  these  States  in 
large  numbers.  An  idea  of  the  way  the  Welsh  went  westward 
may  be  had  from  the  fact  that  from  1864  to  1870  ovei:  240 
Welsh  families  settled  in  Missouri  alone. ^ 

THE  ''MILL  MEN''  COME 
While  the  immigrant  directly  from  Wales  traveled  west- 
ward there  were  attractions  in  Columbus  which  appealed  to 
a  special  class  of  workmen,  namely,  the  ''mill  men."  The  rise 
of  industry,  the  mills  and  shops,  attracted  workmen  of  that 
class.  For  example :  the  Steel  Rail  Company  which  organized 
a  mill  for  the  manufacture  of  steel  rails  attracted  a  great 
many  iron  workers  in  the  70s.  The  company  engaged  a 
Welshman  by  the  name  of  Lewis  as  superintendent.  Lewis 
came  from  Pennsylvania.  The  habit  of  the  Welsh  iron  work- 
ers of  that  day  was  to  follow  their  leader,  so  along  with  Lewis 
came  many  of  his  former  workmen,  the  majority  of  whom 
were  Southwaleans.  Another  Welshman  by  the  name  of 
Lewis  was  bookkeeper  for  the  company,  and  almost  all  of  the 
important  positions  such  as  foremen,  engineers,  etc.  were  held 
by  Welshmen.  In  conversations  with  Welsh  residents  of  Co- 
lumbus, many  of  whom  worked  in  the  Steel  Rail  Mill  in  that 
former  day,  the  writer  has  been  given  various  estimates  as  to 

1     See   "Cymry  America,"  p.  84  sq. 


50  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

the  percent  of  Welsh  working  in  the  mill.  Some  gave  it  as 
their  opinion  that  three-fourths  of  the  employees  were  Welsh, 
others  gave  an  estimate  of  two-thirds  and  no  one  gave  a  lower 
estimate  than  one-half.  The  mill  was  abandoned  some  twenty 
years  ago.  Some  of  the  Welsh  left  at  that  time  but  many  of 
them  remained  in  the  city,  finding  employment  with  other 
firms. 

The  Hayden  Company  had  a  great  many  Welsh  people  in 
their  employ.  David  Price,  a  brother  of  Edward  Pryce^ 
mentioned  above,  was  17  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Colum- 
bus with  his  parents  in  1840.  David  Price  was  connected  with 
the  Hayden  Company  for  45  years.  At  first  he  was  a  teamster 
for  Hayden,  then  he  clerked  in  the  store.  Finally  he  became 
foreman  of  all  the  outside  work  for  Hayden,  having  complete 
charge  of  teams,  the  hiring  of  men,  etc.,  a  sort  of  general 
manager  of  outside  affairs.  David  Price  helped  the  young 
Welsh  boys  a  great  deal.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  energy 
and  push.  He  knew  the  city  and  was  known  by  all.  When  a 
Welshman  arrived  in  the  city  in  search  for  work  he  was  di- 
rected to  Price,  who  always  assisted  him  in  finding  employ- 
ment. Price  gave  the  young  Welshmen  positions  at  Hayden 's, 
either  temporarily  or  permanently,  and  he  helped  scores  of 
them  secure  good  positions  elsewhere  in  the  city. 

IMMIGRATION  FROM  LOCAL  SETTLEMENTS  IN  OHIO 

During  this  period  the  tide  of  immigration  on  the  part  of 
the  Welsh  from  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  turned  from 
Cincinnati  to  Columbus.  This  began  in  1860  when  the  Rev. 
R.  H.  Evans,  who  was  raised  in  the  settlement,  became  pastor 
of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  Columbus.  The  next 
to  come  from  this  settlement  was  a  woman  who  came  as  house- 
keeper for  a  man  in  Columbus,  who  had  a  brother  living  in 
the  settlement.  She  came  in  1863.  The  same  year  Mr.  L.  D. 
Davies  was  brought  to  Camp  Chase  as  a  paroled  prisoner  of 
the  Civil  War.  At  the  close  of  the  War  in  1865  Mr.  Davies 
came  to  Columbus  and  settled  there  permanently  in  business 


1     These  two  brothers  spelled  their  names  differently,  one  with  a  "y"  and 
the  other  with  an  "i".     The  spelling  of  the  name  "y"  in  Pryce  is  the  original. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  51 

as  a  grocer.  He  was  followed  by  his  brother  in  1867  accom- 
panied by  another  young  man  from  the  settlement.  After 
that  time  Welsh  immigration  from  the  Jackson  and  Gallia 
settlement  kept  increasing.  By  1873  there  were  about  15 
people  from  the  settlement  in  Columbus  and  in  the  decade 
which  followed  a  great  many  more  came. 

The  causes  of  migration  from  Jackson  and  Gallia  may 
be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows:  (i)  Their  farms  were  small 
and  not  very  productive,  so  the  young  sought  employment  in 
the  city,  (ii)  Cincinnati  was  not  so  attractive  to  them  as  in 
former  years. ^  The  city  had  grown  and  consequently  the 
Welsh  population  had  scattered.  The  pastor  of  the  Welsh 
church  of  that  period  was  not  so  strong  socially  as  his  prede- 
cessor had  been,  (iii)  The  development  of  railroads  in  cen- 
tral Ohio  made  Columbus  very  accessible  to  the  people  of  the 
settlement,  (iv)  Wages  were  good  and  many  forms  of  oc- 
cupation were  available  in  Columbus,  (v)  Columbus  was 
not  as  large  as  Cincinnati  and  the  Welsh  were  grouped  to- 
gether about  their  church,  (vi)  Rev.  R.  H.  Evans  came  to 
the  Columbus  church  directly  from  Jackson  and  Gallia  settle- 
ment. He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  David  Harris  as  pastor. 
Mr.  Harris  came  to  Columbus  from  Ironton  which  is  also  in 
the  Jackson  and  Gallia  Presbytery.  Harris  had  been  a  tomb- 
stone maker  and  had  traveled  extensively  through  the  settle- 
ment. He  knew  all  the  people  of  the  community,  first  as 
business  man,  then  as  minister.  His  influence  brought  many 
to  Columbus,  (vii)  Men  from  the  settlement  came  to  Co- 
lumbus as  members  of  the  legislature  from  their  district,  and 
they  advised  the  young  of  Jackson  and  Gallia,  who  were  seek- 


1  For  many  years  previous  to  1860  the  Welsh  from  Jackson  and  Gallia 
flocked  into  Cincinnati.  Scores  of  Welsh  girls  found  employment  in  the  best 
homes  of  the  city.  The  young  men  also  entered  the  shops  and  factories  of 
Cincinnati  and  many  of  them  learned  trades.  Poverty  at  home  forced  them  to 
seek  employment  elsewhere.  Cincinnati  was  accessible  to  the  Settrement  by 
water  down  the  Ohio  River.  The  fact  that  there  was  a  good  Welsh  church  in 
Cincinnati  helped  to  attract  them  there,  and  it  encouraged  the  parents  to 
allow  their  children  to  go  to  Cincinnati.  The  first  two  pastors  of  the  Cincinnati 
0.  M.  church  were  Revs.  Edward  Jones  and  Howel  Powell.  These  men  were 
very  strong  socially,  and  they  paid  great  attention  to  the  young  men  and 
women  who  entered  the  city  from  country  homes.  The  Welsh  0.  M.  church 
during  the  late  '50s  and  early  '60s  had  a  membership  of  850;  two-thirds  of 
them  were  from  Jackson  and  Gallia,  and  about  one-third  of  them  were  servant 
girls. 


52  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

ing  for  positions  in  the  city,  to  go  to  Columbus,  (viii)  When 
the  children  were  established  in  good  positions  their  parents, 
in  many  cases,  followed  them  to  Columbus. 

THE  THIRD  PERIOD 

The  third  period  of  Welsh  migration  to  Columbus,  (1885) 
is  marked  by  a  decided  decrease  in  direct  immigration  from 
Wales  and  the  rapid  increase  of  immigration  from  the  local 
Welsh  settlements  in  Ohio.  The  decrease  of  foreign  Welsh 
immigration  amounts  to  what  may  be  regarded  as  almost  a 
complete  extinction  of  the  direct  foreign  immigration  on  the 
part  of  the  Welsh  to  Columbus. 

The  trend  of  migration  during  the  past  25  years  may  be 
seen  from  Table  II.  in  the  Appendix.^  Table  II.  has  been 
compiled  from  the  records  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
of  Columbus.  The  Table  shows  the  total  number  received  into 
the  church  by  letter  in  the  past  25  years,  (viz.  from  1885  to 
1909  inclusive).  In  the  table  there  are  28  columns  showing 
the  sources  from  which  the  members  came,  the  name  at  the 
top  indicating  the  church.  The  column  at  the  left  shows  the 
year  in  which  they  came.  The  two  columns  marked  "totals," 
one  at  the  right  and  the  other  at  the  bottom,  shows  (i)  the 
total  which  came  each  year,  and  (ii)  the  total  which  came 
from  each  church  in  25  years.  The  columns  of  this  table  are 
also  grouped  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  what  churches  are 
grouped  together,  belonging  to  the  same  vicinity. 

This  table,  to  be  sure,  does  not  include  all  the  Welsh  who 
have  come  to  Columbus  in  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  For 
many  who  came  here  went  to  the  Welsh  Congregational 
Church,  others  went  to  English  churches  in  the  city  and  still 
others  to  no  church  at  all.  But  the  table  does  indicate  the 
trend  of  the  Welsh  immigration  during  this  period. 

The  first  15  columns  are  of  churches  in  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  Presbytery,  and  all  of  these  may  be  said  to  belong  to 
the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  with  the  exception  of  four. 
And  these  four  have  contributed  the  least  of  any  of  the 

1     See  Appendix  A. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  53 

churches  individually  of  the  entire  15.  They  are  Ironton, 
Portsmouth,  and  Pomeroy  on  the  Ohio  River  and  Coalton  in 
Jackson  County.  These  four  collectively  gave  to  the  Calvin- 
istic  Methodist  Church  of  Columbus  only  22  out  of  466  mem- 
bers which  came  by  letters  from  that  Presbytery.  All  the 
rest  came  directly  from  the  settlement  except  Jackson  town 
people,  and  they  must  be  counted  as  a  part  of  the  settlement 
for  the  Welsh  population  of  Jackson  grew  out  of  the  settle- 
ment. 

The  next  large  group  is  that  of  Vanwert  and  Putnam 
Counties  consisting  of  five  churches.  The  Sugar  Creek  Church 
in  Putnam  County  is  separated  from  the  others  by  some  15  or 
18  miles.  But  it  is  a  neighboring  settlement  and  may  be 
thus  considered  with  the  Venedocia  settlement  in  Vanwert 
County.  From  the  Venedocia  and  Sugar  Creek  group  135 
members  have  come  in  the  past  25  years,  the  most  of  these 
came  in  the  late  *90s  and  thereafter.  The  remainder  are  from 
various  places  in  Ohio,  as  the  table  indicates,  and  from  other 
States,  and  from  Wales. 

The  total  coming  to  the  Calvinistic  Church  by  letters  in 
the  past  25  years  is  801.  Of  this  total  466  came  from  Jackson 
and  Gallia  Presbytery,  and  135  came  from  the  Venedocia  and 
Sugar  Creek  group.  In  other  words  601  out  of  the  801,  or 
three-fourths  of  the  entire  number  came  from  these  two  dis- 
tricts alone.  Of  the  remaining  200  members,  125  were  scatter- 
ing in  Ohio,  including  those  who  came  from  English  churches 
in  Columbus;  43  were  from  other  States,  and  only  35  came 
directly  from  Wales.  From  this  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that 
direct  immigration  from  Wales  to  Columbus  had  practically 
stopped  by  1885,  and  that  there  was  a  great  influx  of  Welsh 
from  rural  districts  in  Ohio,  particularly  from  Jackson  and 
Gallia  and  from  Venedocia  and  Sugar  Creek,  is  evident.^ 

The  Welsh  from  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement  were 
variously  employed  when  they  came  to  Columbus.  Many 
were  artisans  and  they  entered  the  mills  and  shops.  Others 
were    employed    as    carpenters,    plasterers,    painters,    stone 

1     See  Figure  I.  on  page  54. 


Figure  1 


a 
b 

c 

d 

e 


/6.  8 
/J.  4 

44 


Figure  1  is  a  graphic  representation  of  Table  II,  appendix 
A.     The  segments  are  as  follows : 
Segment  a.    Jackson  and  Gallia. 
Segment  b.    Vanwert  and  Putnam. 
Segment  c.     All  others  in  Ohio. 
Segment  d.     Other  States. 
Segment  e.    Wales,  G.  B. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  55 

masons,  bricklayers,  and  some  were  common  laborers.  Many 
found  work  in  the  State  Institutions,  while  others  clerked  in 
stores  and  found  positions  as  bookkeepers,  and  many  of  the 
young  women  were  employed  as  house  servants  in  the  best 
homes  in  the  city. 

The  new  arrivals  from  Jackson  and  Gallia  were  received 
and  cared  for  by  friends  and  relatives  who  had  already  be- 
come established  in  the  city.  The  grocery  store  of  Mr.  L.  D. 
Davies  was  for  many  years  practically  an  employment  bureau 
for  the  Welsh  who  flocked  into  the  city  from  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  settlement. 

ORGANIZATION  AND  CHANGE 

The  first  period  (1820-1860),  was  a  period  of  organization 
and  rapid  changes  according  to  shifting  conditions.  The  be- 
ginning of  church  activities  is  a  good  illustration  of  this  fact. 
The  first  Welsh  church  organized  in  1824  was  Baptist.  The 
worshippers  met  in  the  homes  of  the  members  until  1830  when 
they  occupied  a  building  on  Mound  Street  between  Fifth  and 
Sixth  streets.  In  1831  the  society  resolved  to  build  a  church. 
The  church  was  erected  and  was  ready  to  be  occupied  by  May 
1832.  The  English  Baptists  had  no  church,  consequently 
some  English  preaching  was  allowed  in  the  Welsh  church. 
Then  the  clash  came.  A  dissension  arose  and  in  the  Autumn 
of  1832  a  number  of  the  Welsh  members  went  out  of  the 
church  and  organized  a  new  Baptist  church  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Rev.  John  Harris.  At  the  beginning  the  services  were 
carried  on  entirely  in  Welsh  in  the  new  church.  But  later  on, 
the  English  speaking  Baptists  had  to  be  reckoned  with  again 
with  the  result  that  occasional  sermons  were  preached  in  the 
English  language.  The  colored  Baptists  also  worshipped  with 
them  in  this  society  for  a  short  time  but  they  withdrew  and 
organized  for  themselves  in  1834. 

There  were,  therefore,  in  1833  two  Baptist  churches  or- 
ganized under  Welsh  auspices.  Both  societies  were  weak  and 
they  maintained  an  existence  with  great  difficulty.  Their  case 
was  taken  up  by  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  with  the  re- 


56  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

suit  that  a  new  society  was  formed  which  absorbed  both  of 
the  Welsh  societies.  The  new  (third)  church  was  English. 
In  the  roll  of  its  charter  members  this  church  had  9  Welsh 
people,  and  on  the  committee  appointed  to  build  a  new  church 
edifice  the  name  of  Rev.  John  Harris  appears.  From  these 
facts  it  is  evident  that  the  Welsh  were  prominent  in  founding 
the  Baptist  interests  in  Columbus.  The  new  church  built  on 
the  corner  of  Rich  and  Third  streets  was  occupied  in  1837  and 
by  1840  it  had  a  membership  of  over  200,  many  of  whom  were 
Welsh. 

While  the  Baptists  were  passing  out  of  existence  as  a 
Welsh  church  another  Welsh  society  was  in  process  of  forma- 
tion under  the  direction  of  Rev.  James  Hoge,  the  father  of 
Presbyterianism  in  Columbus.  This  church  was  organized  as 
a  Union  Welsh  church  with  a  charter  membership  of  12,  nine 
of  whom  were  women  and  three  men.  At  first  meetings  were 
held  in  a  schoolhouse  located  in  an  alley  north  of  Broad  Street 
between  High  and  Front  streets  The  location  of  the  meeting 
house  was  subject  to  many  and  frequent  changes  until  a  frame 
church  building  was  erected  on  Town  Street  between  Fifth 
and  Sixth  streets.  The  church  was  dedicated  as  a  Mission 
church  under  the  auspices  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  lot  for  the  building  was  donated  by  the  Presbyterians. 
This  church  passed  through  its  period  of  struggle.  One  faith- 
ful member  by  the  name  of  Davies  (y  Saer)  was  there  alone 
many  a  time  simply  to  keep  the  door  open,  awaiting  a  brighter 
day  for  the  Welsh  church.  Conditions  improved  and  all  went 
well  for  a  time  and  they  succeeded  in  building  a  church  for 
themselves  in  1845.  But  the  Union  Church,  like  their  Baptist 
brethren,  after  they  had  accomplished  the  definite  and  difficult 
task  of  building  a  house  of  worship,  quarrelled  and  the  result 
was  a  division.^ 

The  real  cause  of  the  ''split*'  was  that  during  the  '40s 
many  of  those  who  came  to  Columbus  from  Wales  were  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodists.  The  Calvinists  wanted  more  Calvinism 
in  the  church.     One  member  of  the  Union  Church  who  was  a 


1     See  "Some  Facts  with  Reference  to  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  &c."  p.  12  gq. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  57 

Calvinistic  Methodist  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Wales  urging  him 
to  come  to  Columbus  to  assist  in  organizing  a  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church,  giving  as  his  reason  that  the  present  ar- 
rangement in  the  Union  Church  was  very  unsatisfactory  to 
the  Calvinistic  faction.  He  also  stated  that  he  believed  that 
the  dissatisfaction  then  existing  would  continue  and  increase 
until  the  Calvinistic  Methodists  organized  for  themselves. 
The  friend  came  to  Columbus  in  1848,  and  the  Calvinistic 
faction  went  out  from  the  Union  Church  and  organized  a 
church  for  themselves  with  28  charter  members.  This  re- 
duced the  Union  Church  to  12  members,  the  same  number  as 
it  had  when  it  organized  ten  or  more  years  before.  From  this 
time  on  the  Union  Church  was  known  as  the  Welsh  Congrega- 
tional Church ;  and  they  worshipped  in  their  church  on  Town 
Street  until  the  early  ^90s  when  they  erected  a  new  and  com- 
modious building  on  the  corner  of  Washington  Avenue  and 
Gay  Street. 

The  Calvinistic  Methodists  after  organizing  with  28  char- 
ter members  held  their  meetings  for  a  year  or  more  in  the 
homes  of  Edward  Herbert  and  Evan  Reynolds  on  the  corner 
of  East  Long  and  Fourth  Streets.  In  1849  a  new  church  edi- 
fice w^as  erected  on  the  corner  of  East  Long  and  Fifth  Streets. 
It  was  occupied  in  1850  and  the  same  year  the  church  was 
received  into  the  Western  Presbytery  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Synod  of  Ohio. 

Since  that  time  there  have  been  two  Welsh  churches  in 
Columbus,  viz.  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church  and  the  Cal- 
vinistic Methodist  Church.  The  Calvinistic  Methodist  society 
found  it  necessary  to  move  from  its  crowded  quarters  on  the 
corner  of  East  Long  and  Fifth  streets  and  in  1887  a  new  com- 
fortable auditorium  with  a  seating  capacity  of  800  or  more 
was  built  on  the  comer  of  East  Long  and  Sixth  streets.  The 
Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  is  prosperous  and  grow- 
ing, having  a  membership  at  present^  of  512.  The  Welsh 
Congregational  Church  has  not  grown  in  recent  years.    Its 


1     Janaary  lat  1910. 


68  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

resident  membership  is  a  little  over  100,  and  nearly  half  of 
this  number  are  foreign  born.  This  church  has  but  few  mem- 
bers under  21  years  of  age. 

COMMUNITY  SPIRIT 

The  early  Welsh  were  clannish  and  lived  close  together 
about  their  church.  At  first  they  lived  south  of  Broad  Street. 
This  may  be  seen  from  th  location  of  their  churches.  The 
Welsh  Baptist  Church  organized  in  1824  held  its  first  meetings 
on  Mound  Street,  between  High  and  Front  Streets,  and  the 
church  built  in  1835  was  on  the  corner  of  Rich  and  Third 
Streets.  The  Union  Church  held  meetings  at  first,  (1837),  in 
an  alley  north  of  Broad  Street  between  High  and  Front 
Streets;  then  for  a  few  years  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Oak  Streets  and  finally  they  erected  a  church  edifice  on  Town 
Street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets. 

As  the  city  grew  the  new  comers  began  to  settle  farther 
away  from  the  business  portion  of  the  town  toward  the  north 
and  north-east  into  the  region  north  of  Long  and  east  of  High 
Street,  as  far  as  Cleveland  Avenue.  Thus  it  was  that  when 
the  Calvinistic  Methodists  broke  away  from  the  Union  Church 
they  worshipped  in  the  homes  of  Herbert  and  Reynolds  on  the 
corner  of  East  Long  and  Fourth  Streets,  and  later  built  a 
church  in  the  same  neighborhood.  So  numerous  were  the 
Welsh  in  the  vicinity  of  East  Long  and  Fifth  streets^  that  the 
neighborhood  was  known  as  ''Welshburg;"  and  the  neighbor- 
hood about  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Third  streets  was  call- 
ed *'Jonesborough.'' 

Many  of  the  so-called  **mill  men"  who  came  to  Columbus 
in  the  70s  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Welshburg  and  Jonesbor- 
ough  while  a  large  number  of  them  lived  near  the  Steel  Rail 
Mill  in  the  Goodale  Street  district  formerly  known  as  '*  Fly- 
town.'*  Some  of  the  people  who  came  to  the  Goodale  Street 
district  in  the  days  of  the  Steel  Rail  Mill  and  who  bought 
property  for  themselves  at  that  time  still  live  there,  but  these 
now  are  few  in  number. 


1     See  "Some  Facts  with  Reference  to  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  &c."  pp.  16 
and  48. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  59 

The  Welsh  from  local  communities  in  Ohio  had  not  started 
to  come  to  Columbus  in  any  considerable  numbers  until  after 
1860.  When  they  did  come  they  began  to  settle  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  Welsh  Church.  The  Welsh  community 
at  this  time  began  to  assume  larger  proportions,  reaching  out 
farther  east  and  north-east,  its  boimdaries  in  a  general  way 
being  on  the  South,  East  Broad  Street;  on  the  West,  North 
High  Street;  on  the  North,  East  Naghten  and  Buckingham 
streets,  and  on  the  East  as  far  as  Lexington  Avenue.  The 
fifth  ward  at  one  time  teemed  with  Welsh  people. 

LITERARY  AND  SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS 

The  literary  meetings  were  occasions  of  great  interest  to 
the  Welsh  of  Columbus  in  the  early  days.  The  literary  meet- 
ing was  a  great  event  in  a  literary  and  social  way.  Here  the 
young  and  old  alike  would  compete  in  music,  poetry,  recita- 
tions and  sight  reading.  Great  interest  was  aroused  by  these 
meetings,  competition  was  often  very  keen  and  there  was  a 
great  spirit  of  rivalry  and  this  sometimes  resulted  in  bitter 
feelings  in  the  community. 

Singing  schools  are  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  but  these  were 
at  one  time  very  popular  in  Welsh  society,  and  to  them  very 
largely  is  due  the  credit  for  good  Welsh  congregational  sing- 
ing. But  the  singing  schools  and  the  church  choir  practice 
were  not  always  appreciated  by  those  in  authority  in  the 
church.  At  one  time  the  choir  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church  had  to  provide  its  own  kerosene  oil  for  rehearsals. 

EISTEDDFOD 
The  Eisteddfod  is  to  the  state  or  nation  what  the  literary 
meeting  is  to  the  local  community.  It  is  a  literary  meeting 
on  a  large  scale.  It  is  broader  in  its  scope  than  a  literary 
meeting.  It  is  State  or  Nation-wide  in  its  scope.  To  the 
Eisteddfod,  competing  choirs  come  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. Welsh  men  of  letters  from  a  large  radius  send  their 
literary  productions  to  the  Eisteddfod.  Columbus  once  had 
an  Eisteddfod  association ;  this  was  in  the  70s,  and  Anthony 
Howells,  Ohio's  State  Treasurer,  was  treasurer  of  the  Eistedd- 


60  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

fod  Association.  Great  Eisteddfods  were  held  but  owing  to 
the  panic  of  1875-1876  the  Association  was  dissolved  though 
successful  Eisteddfods  have  been  held  since  that  time.^ 

DONATIONS 
Compensation  to  the  minister  for  his  service  was  at  first 
meagre,  but  the  annual  donation  to  the  minister  was  an  event 
of  great  interest.  Mrs.  Kinney,  the  daughter  of  David  Price, 
has  in  her  possession  what  was  known  as  the  '*  Donation 
Book.''  The  Donation  Book  is  a  relic  of  that  early  day.  The 
book  was  owned  by  Mrs.  Kinney's  father  who,  while  he  was 
not  identified  with  the  church,  took  great  pleasure  in  securing 
the  annual  donation  for  the  Welsh  preacher.  This  little  book 
contains  the  names  of  subscribers  and  the  amount  subscribed 
by  them  for  several  different  years  in  the  '60s.  Sometimes  the 
donations  amounted  to  more  than  $200.00. 

AMUSEMENTS 
The  pioneer  Welsh  were  very  conservative  and  amusements 
generally  were  condemned.  Card  playing,  theatre  going, 
dancing,  and  similar  social  pleasures,  were  not  tolerated  by  the 
church.  Formal  parties  among  the  young  people  were  not 
allowed.  But  the  young  gathered  together  for  good  times 
nevertheless.  And  in  their  gatherings  they  played  such 
games  as  kissing  games  in  kissing  parties  which  would  be 
frowned  upon  in  Welsh  society  today.  The  Welsh  are  very 
conservative  in  all  things.  They  are  slow  to  adopt  anything 
new.  It  was  under  a  storm  of  opposition  that  the  small  organ 
was  introduced  into  the  church  service.  In  matters  of  dress 
the  older  Welsh  were  very  modest.  Perhaps  no  church  in 
Columbus  had  a  congregation  more  modest  and  sombre  in  its 
wearing  apparel  than  the  Welsh  congregation  in  former  years. 

THE  WELSH  PROMINENT  IN  COLUMBUS 

The  early  Welsh  of  Columbus  were  prominent  in  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  the  city  from  the  very  beginning.  They  served 
as  County  Commissioners,  Infirmary  Directors,  City  Council- 

1  Recently  a  new  Eisteddfod  Association,  known  as  "The  Columbus  Ohio 
Eisteddfod  Association"  has  been  formed. 


THE  WELSH  OF  OHIO  IN  COLUMBUS  61 

men,  etc.  A  man  bearing  the  Welsh  name  of  George  Williams 
was  County  Commissioner  in  1820.  On  the  City  Fire  Depart- 
ment in  1850-1851  there  were  eight  Welshmen.  In  the  or- 
ganization of  Capital  University  in  1850  the  name  of  William 
M.  Reynolds,  preacher  and  professor,  appears,  as  well  as 
Thomas  Roberts,  one  of  the  directors.  The  Rev.  Edward  D. 
Morris,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  was  pastor  of  the  first  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  *50s.  After  that  he  was  professor  in  Lane  The- 
ological Seminary  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  for  30  years.  Dr.  Mor- 
ris now  resides  in  Columbus.  Perhaps  the  best  known  Welsh- 
man who  ever  lived  in  Columbus  is  William  Dean  Howells, 
** America's  leading  writer  of  fiction,"  who  came  to  Columbus 
at  the  age  of  14  years.  Here  he  earned  his  first  money,  as 
compositor  on  the  Ohio  State  Journal,  with  a  salary  of  $4.00 
per  week.^ 

CONCLUSION 

Three  important  influences  which  stimulated  immigration 
to  Columbus  stand  out  clearly  in  the  foregoing  pages:  (i) 
The  underlying  cause  was  ecomonic;  then,  (ii)  The  influ- 
ence of  religious  leaders  and  (iii)  the  controlling  place  of  the 
.church  in  Welsh  society  is  very  evident.  Hardships  and  op- 
pression in  the  fatherland  resulting  from  the  tyranny  of  land- 
lords and  stewards  made  life  a  drudgery  for  the  poor  Welsh 
tenant  farmer.  Migration  to  America  was  their  door  of  hope. 
In  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlements  the  poverty  of  the  land 
forced  the  young  from  the  settlement  to  seek  employment 
elsewhere.  The  development  of  industries  in  Columbus  and 
the  great  demand  for  workmen  together  with  increased  trans- 
portation facilities  made  Columbus  both  attractive  and  ac- 
cessible. 

The  influence  of  religious  leaders  is  also  an  important  con- 
sideration as  is  the  controlling  place  of  the  church  in  Welsh 
society.  Just  as  Williams  controlled  in  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  settlement,  so  did  the  preacher  exert  a  great  influence 
in  attracting  the  Welsh  to  Columbus.  Samuel  Roberts  was 
creating  a  dissatisfaction  in  Llanbrynmair,  Montgomeryshire. 

1     See    "Historical  Collections  of  Ohio"   Vol.  I.,  p.   327. 


62  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Chidlaw  went  to  that  very  community  and  told  of  the  great 
advantages  in  America,  and,  especially  in  Ohio,  for  his  old 
home  was  in  Radnor.  Then  came  Evans  and  Harris  from  the 
Jackson  and  Gallia  Presbytery  as  pastors  to  Columbus,  and  the 
trend  of  migration  on  the  part  of  the  young  of  the  settlement 
changed  from  Cincinnati  to  Columbus.  We  do  not  claim  for 
the  religious  leaders  entire  control  in  the  matter  of  this  change 
from  Cincinnati  to  Columbus  as  may  be  seen  from  the  discus- 
sion, but  that  they  exerted  a  great  influence  no  one  will  doubt. 
Welsh  parents  felt  safe  to  have  their  children  in  the  care  of 
these  men  of  the  church. 

The  controlling  place  of  the  church  may  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  Welsh  lived  in  a  group  about  their  church.  The 
first  thing  a  Welshman  asks  when  anticipating  a  change  from 
one  place  to  another  is,  What  are  the  religious  advantages? 
and  religious  advantages  to  him  means  the  existence  of  a  Welsh 
church.  When  for  any  reason  a  church  moved  a  few  squares 
from  its  original  meeting  place,  such  as  from  Town  Street  to 
the  corner  of  East  Long  and  Fifth  Streets,  we  find  all  the  new 
comers  to  Columbus  settling  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
church  location.  It  should  be  noted  also  that  the  early  church 
controlled  not  only  the  location  of  the  Welsh,  but  it  also  gov- 
erned their  social  life  for  a  long  period. 

The  Welsh  church  in  Columbus  today  has  lost,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  its  controlling  place  both  in  directing  the  resi- 
dence of  its  adherents  and  in  its  social  control  of  Welsh 
society.  A  more  complete  discussion  of  this  will  be  given  in 
a  subsequent  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV, 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS 

General  Statement 
The  population  of  Columbus  at  present  is  181,511.  Further 
details  of  the  last  census  for  cities  have  not  been  issued  by  the 
Bureau  of  the  Census  up  to  the  time  of  this  writing.  What 
the  Census  Report  of  1910  may  reveal  is  not  known,  but, 
judging  from  the  Census  Reports  of  the  past,  nothing  of  any 
great  value  for  the  detailed  study  of  such  a  small  group  as 
the  Welsh  of  Columbus  can  be  looked  for.  Below  is  a  table 
of  what  the  census  reports  have  given  concerning  the  Welsh 
of  Columbus  from  the  beginning  up  to  the  present  time. 

TABLE  III. 

The  U.  8,  Census  Report  on  the  Welsh  Population  of 
ColumhuSj  Ohio. 

1900    1890    1880    1870 

Born  in  Wales 595      607      559      415 

Both  parents  born  in  Wales 1,400   1,273 

Father  born  in  Wales  and  mother 

bom  in  U.  S 427      252 

Mother  bom  in  Wales  and  father 

bora  in  U.  S 232      141 

Father  bom  in  Wales  and  mother  in 

some  other  foreign  country 84        68 

Mother  bom  in  Wales  and  father  in 

some  other  foreign  country 86        65 

The  above  table  taken  from  the  Census  Report  shows  that 
previous  to  1870  no  report  was  given  by  the  United  States 
Census  Bureau  regarding  the  Welsh  population  of  Columbus. 
In  1870  the  number  of  persons  bom  in  Wales  was  415;  in 
1880  the  number  was  559.  When  we  come  to  the  report  for 
1890  we  are  given  some  additional  information,  and  likewise 


64  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

for  1900.  The  additional  items  are:  (i)  the  number  of 
native  born  Welsh  whose  parents  were  born  in  Wales,  (ii)  the 
number  having  one  parent  born  in  Wales  and  the  other  in  the 
United  States,  (iii)  the  number  having  one  parent  born  in 
Wales  and  the  other  in  some  other  foreign  country.  The  total 
Welsh  (either  full  blood  or  part  Welsh)  in  Columbus  in  1890 
according  to  this  report  was  2,406;  and  in  1900  the  number 
was  2,824.  There  was  a  slight  decrease  in  the  number  of 
foreign  born  Welsh,  viz.  from  607  in  1890  to  595  in  1900. 
While  there  was  a  slight  increase  in  the  number  of  native  born 
of  foreign  parents,  viz.  from  1,273  in  1890  to  1,400  in  1900. 
The  other  items  show  a  corresponding  slight  increase. 

From  this  report  it  is  impossible  to  know  just  how  many 
were  of  pure  Welsh  blood,  except  those  born  in  Wales  and 
those  whose  parents  were  born  in  Wales.  For,  when  we  come 
to  those,  one  of  whose  parents  was  born  in  Wales  and  the  other 
in  the  United  States,  it  is  impossible  to  know  whether  the  one 
born  in  the  United  States  was  of  Welsh  blood  or  of  some  other 
nationality.  Likewise  in  the  case  of  those  whose  parents  were 
born  one  in  Wales  and  the  other  in  some  other  foreign  coun- 
try, we  are  not  told  what  foreign  country,  so  we  are  given  no 
clue  as  to  the  trend  of  intermarriage  between  the  Welsh  in 
this  country  and  the  people  of  other  nationalities. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  se- 
cure any  definite  and  satisfactory  results  with  reference  to 
the  Welsh  of  Columbus  from  the  scanty  reports  given  out  con- 
cerning them  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census.  The  Census  Re- 
ports do  well  perhaps  when  dealing  with  the  large  masses,  but 
for  details  regarding  a  small  and  limited  group,  such  as  we 
are  now  considering,  they  are  very  unsatisfactory,  being  too 
general  in  their  scope. 

THE  GATHERING  OF  DATA  FOR  THE 

PRESENT  WORK 

During  the  writer's  stay  of  about  three  and  one-half  years 

in  Columbus  an  effort  was  made  under  the  auspices  of  the 

Calvinistic  Methodist  (or  Welsh  Presbyterian)   Church,  and 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  66 

under  the' direct  supervision  of  the  writer,  to  obtain  more 
specific  knowledge  with  regard  to  the  Welsh  of  the  city.  To 
this  end  a  canvass  of  the  city  was  made.  The  primary  object 
of  the  canvass  was  not  sociological,  but  for  the  purpose  of  the 
church,  the  idea  being  to  learn  the  real  sphere  and  function 
of  the  Welsh  church  in  its  relation  to  the  Welsh  population 
of  Columbus.  Had  the  object  been  sociological  primarily, 
more  data  bearing  directly  on  this  work  would  be  available. 
But  from  the  data  accumulated  by  the  church  and  for  the 
church  purpose  many  interesting  facts  of  a  sociological  nature 
have  been  gleaned.  The  canvass  was  begun  the  first  of 
January  1910  and  completed  in  May  of  the  same  year.  The 
work  was  done  by  one  person  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Welsh 
people  of  Columbus  doubtless  surpasses  that  of  any  other 
citizen.  He  has  lived  in  Columbus  since  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War.  Shortly  after  coming  to  Columbus  in  1865  he  became 
established  in  business  as  a  grocer.  This  gave  him  a  wide  ac- 
quaintance in  the  city.  Moreover  he  has  been  an  officer  in  the 
Calvinistie  Methodist  Church  for  over  25  years  and  his  interest 
in  the  church  is  vital.  Such  in  brief  are  the  qualifications  of 
the  man  who  made  the  canvass. 

It  was  deemed  unnecessary  to  make  a  house  to  house  can- 
vass of  the  whole  city.  The  method  employed  was  to  take  the 
Directory  of  the  City  of  Columbus  and  to  go  through  it  col- 
umn by  column  with  care,  making  notes  of  Welsh  names  and 
addresses  and  of  any  other  names  which  savored  of  Welsh. 
After  thus  selecting  the  names,  the  canvasser  was  advised  by 
the  clerk  in  the  City  Directory's  office  of  the  way  that  office 
arranged  and  classified  its  material  for  systematic  work.  The 
canvasser  followed  the  direction  in  every  detail  of  instruction, 
and  with  good  results. ^ 

The  canvasser  was  provided  with  record-cards  for  his 
work.  The  record-card  was  arranged  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  records  for  single  males  or  single  females,  or  for  hus- 
band and  wife  and  for  children  in  the  family  where  there 

1  It  took  five  weeks  for  the  canvasser  to  collect  materials  and  classify 
them  for  the  canvass  before  the  field  work  was  actually  be^n. 


66  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

were  children.  The  record-card  contained  the  following  ques- 
tions: (i)  Name?  (2)  Address?  (3)  Occupation?  (4) 
Age?  (5)  Foreign  or  native  born?  (6)  Rural  or  Urban? 
(7)  Foreign  or  native  parents?  (8)  Speak  or  read  Welsh? 
(9)  Old  home?  (10)  Number  of  years  lived  in  Columbus? 
(11)  Member  of  church?  Where?  (12)  Attend  church? 
Where?  (13)  Educational  advantages?  (14)  Economic  and 
social  condition?  (15)  For  families  of  children  (a)  Sons? 
Names?  (b)  Daughters?  Names?  (c)  Ages  of  each?  (d'^ 
Members  of  church?  (e)  Of  Sunday  School?  (f)  Attend 
Grade  School?  (g)  High  School?  (h)  College?  (i)  Do 
children  speak  Welsh?  (j)  Where  do  children  attend  church? 
From  the  returns  of  these  record-cards  much  information, 
vital  and  interesting,  was  obtained,  and  from  this  information 
most  of  the  statistics  in  this  and  the  following  chapters  have 
been  compiled  and  arranged.  This  has  been  supplemented 
by  work  of  a  similar  kind,  but  of  a  more  detailed  nature, 
which  the  writer  himself  did  in  his  own  church  and  society. 
Inquiry  and  personal  interviews  with  many  elderly  and  lead- 
ing Welsh  citizens  of  Columbus  was  also  a  source  of  important 
information. 

.«  LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  WORK 

A  complete  and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Welsh  of  Colum- 
bus on  the  basis  of  this  canvass  is  not  claimed.  This  was  not 
possible  in  such  a  canvass,  nor  could  it  have  been  possible  had 
a  systematic  house  to  house  canvass  of  the  entire  city  been 
made.  For  the  canvasser  made  what  he  termed  ** back-calls'' 
at  some  addresses  as  many  as  four  or  five  times  and  found  no 
one  at  home.  Another  difficulty  was  found  in  trying  to  locate 
Welsh  females  who  had  married  males  of  other  nationalities. 
Here  the  City  Directory  was  helpless,  the  name  giving  no  clue. 
But  even  with  such  persons  the  canvasser's  wide  acquaintance 
with  the  Welsh  and  his  knowledge  of  the  city  in  general  were 
a  great  aid  in  this  work,  and  he  learned  of  many  through  con- 
stant inquiry  wherever  he  went  in  the  city.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  canvasser  made  scores  and  hundreds  of  calls  on 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  6f 

families  and  individuals  who  were  not  Welsh.  This  was 
especially  true  of  certain  streets  in  the  colored  districts  where 
the  negroes  had  such  names  as  Davis,  Jones,  Williams,  and 
other  names  common  among  Welsh  people.  These  names  on 
his  list,  the  canvasser  disposed  of  as  he  went  along. 

While  we  are  glad  to  make  every  allowance  possible  re- 
garding the  limitations  of  the  work,  it  may  be  fairly  claimed 
that  this  canvass  is  more  accurate  and  gives  more  information 
concerning  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  than  anything  else  pro- 
duced up  to  the  present  time.  We  know  of  no  similar  work 
done  among  the  Welsh  of  any  city  or  community  in  the  United 
States.  The  canvass  reveals  an  abundance  of  details  regard- 
ing the  Welsh  of  Columbus  which  cannot  be  obtained  from 
any  other  source.  The  Census  Bureau  cannot  attempt  such 
details. 

CLASSIFIED  GROUPS 

The  total  number  of  Welsh  people  in  Columbus  enumerated 
in  this  canvass  is  3,174.  The  Census  Report  for  1900  gives 
2,824,  and  for  1890  it  gives  2,406.i  There  are  three  degrees  of 
classification  made  herein,  viz.  1.  The  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church  and  society,  which  has  been  studied  with  more  detail 
than  was  possible  in  the  general  canvass  of  the  city.  This 
group  numbers  672.  II.  Those  who  were  regularly  and 
carefully  written  up  on  the  record-cards  by  the  canvasser. 
This  includes  every  adult  whose  record  was  written  up  in  the 
first  14  questions  of  the  record-card.  This  group  is  styled 
Regularly  Classified  and  it  numbers  1,273.  III.  The  third 
group  is  that  of  children  whose  classification  begins  with  ques- 
tion 15  on  the  record-card.  This  group  we  designate  as  In- 
complete Classification.  The  total  of  this  group  is  1,229. 
These  then  are  the  groups: 

I.     The  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society 672 

II.     The   Regularly   Classified 1,273 

III.     The  Incomplete  Classification 1,229 

The  total  of  these  groups  is 3,174 

i  These  figures  show  that  there  was  a  gain  from  1890  to  1900  of  418,  and 
from  1900  to  1910,  according  to  our  canva^is,  a  gain  of  350  over  the  Census 
Report  of  1900. 


68  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  WELSH  POPULATION 
OF  COLUMBUS 
According  to  onr  canvass  there  are  3,174  Welsh  people  in 
the  city  of  Columbus.  This  includes  the  children  of  mixed 
marriages  as  well  as  those  who  are  full  blood  Welsh.  From 
the  canvass  made,  a  fair  estimate  of  the  entire  Welsh  popula- 
tion would  be  about  3,600. 

The  Welsh  not  a  Foreign  Group. — The  study  of  the  Welsh 
of  Columbus  of  today  is  not  that  of  a  certain  number  of 
foreigners  of  the  same  nationality  grouped  together  in  one 
section  of  the  city  with  their  manner  of  life,  their  habits  and 
institutions,  unchanged  as  yet  through  contact  with  American 
life  and  spirit,  such  as  a  study  of  an  Italian  or  Hungarian 
group  in  some  of  our  large  cities  might  be.  Such  a  study  of 
the  Welsh  in  Columbus  would  be  very  interesting  were  it  pos- 
sible. And  such  a  study  might  have  been  possible  in  the 
Welsh  society  of  Columbus,  50  or  60  years  ago,  in  the  days  of 
^*Welshburg"  and  **Jonesborough." 

But  the  study  of  the  Welsh  of  Colimibus  at  present  is 
quite  a  different  problem.  It  is  the  study  of  a  people  who 
have  been  influenced  by  American  life  and  institutions ;  influ- 
enced by  social  intercourse  for  several  decades;  influenced 
through  business  and  economic  relations;  influenced  through 
intermarriage  with  other  nationalities;  influenced  linquisti- 
cally  through  commercial  intercourse  and  especially,  for  the 
children,  through  the  public  schools.  Many  of  the  Welsh  of 
Columbus  are  of  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  Welsh 
people  in  America,  and  some  perhaps  older.  Many  of  these, 
while  of  pure  Welsh  blood,  have  no  strong  national  prejudices 
to  overcome.  They  have  never  learned  the  Welsh  language, 
and  their  parents  do  not  speak  it,  and  language  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  Welsh  nationality.  When  a  Welshman  loses 
his  native  tongue,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  him  from  any 
other  normal  American  citizen.  Church  and  religion  are  also 
thought  to  be  elements  in  the  make-up  of  the  Welshman,  and 
of  this  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  later. 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  69 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  WELSH  OVER  COLUMBUS 
Previous  to  1850  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  lived  south  of 
Broad  Street.  Later  they  moved  north  and  north-eastward 
to  the  vicinity  of  East  Long  and  Fifth  Streets.  There  they 
lived  in  a  compact  group  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
church.  Today  they  are  scattered,  more  or  less,  all  over  the 
city.  To  be  sure,  many  of  the  older  families  who  bought 
property  and  settled  in  the  locality  of  Welshburg  still  remain 
there.  Others  who  came  in  the  70s  and  '80s  and  bought 
property  on  Cleveland  Avenue,  East  Spring  Street,  and  Kel- 
logg Avenue  still  retain  their  homes  on  these  streets;  but  the 
children  of  these  families,  who  have  married  in  recent  years, 
have  located  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  It  is  claimed  that  of 
the  members  of  the  Calvinistic  Church  scarcely  a  family  lived 
more  than  five  or  six  squares  away  from  the  church  as  re- 
cently as  12  to  15  years  ago.  Today  many  of  them  are  found 
in  the  remote  parts  of  the  city.  Some  of  them  live  in  the 
extreme  West  Side  beyond  the  State  Hospital;  others  in  the 
North  End  beyond  the  Ohio  State  University,  but  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  have  located  in  other  parts  of  the  city 
in  recent  years  have  gone  east  and  southeastward.  There  is 
not  at  present  a  single  Welsh  family  among  the  members  of 
the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  that  lives  south  of  Broad 
Street  and  west  of  Parsons  Avenue.  The  new  comers  from 
Jackson  and  Gallia  and  elsewhere,  previous  to  12  or  15  years 
ago  sought  homes  in  the  Welsh  community  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  church,  but  they  do  so  no  longer.  The  new 
comer  of  today  goes  either  east  or  north  to  find  a  home. 

The  reasons  for  leaving  the  vicinity  of  the  church  are: 
(i)  Street  car  facilities  are  improved  so  that  people  can  get 
to  church  and  to  business  with  comparative  ease  from  distant 
parts  of  the  city,  (ii)  Homes  and  rents  in  the  new  and 
modern  houses  are  cheaper  in  these  districts  which  are  farther 
from  the  business  center  of  the  city,  (iii)  Foreigners,  such 
as  Italians,  are  forging  from  High  Street  into  the  old  vicinity 
inhabited  almost  exclusively  by  the  Welsh  in  former  days. 


70  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  Welsh  will  continue  to  leave  this  old  vicinity  more  and 
more  in  the  future.  The  general  trend  of  the  great  majority 
of  them  is  toward  the  east  and  southeastern  part  of  Columbus. 

Columbus,  for  convenience  in  speaking  of  it,  is  divided 
into  ends  and  sides.  Viz.  the  East  Side  and  West  Side,  and 
the  South  End  and  the  North  End.  High  Street  divides  the 
city  into  east  and  west  and  Broad  Street  divids  it  into  north 
and  south.  People  are  generally  spoken  of  as  living  on  the 
East  Side  or  West  Side,  or  in  the  North  End  or  South  End. 
For  the  sake  of  convenience  in  tracing  the  distribution  of  the 
Welsh  over  Columbus  the  writer  has  followed  these  general 
divisions  and  has  made  some  smaller  subdivisions.  The  di- 
visions are  as  follows : 

The  South  End. — The  South  End  as  described  here  em- 
braces that  part  of  Columbus  which  is  south  of  Broad  Street, 
west  of  Parsons  Avenue,  east. of  the  Scioto  River,  due  south 
to  the  city  limits. 

The  North  End. — The  North  End  embraces  all  the  region 
north  of  the  Big  Four  tracks  entering  Union  Station,  to  the 
north,  east,  and  west  city  limits. 

The  West  Side. — The  West  Side  embraces  that  portion  of 
the  city  which  is  west  of  the  Scioto  River  and  south  of  Broad 
Street,  south  and  west  to  the  city  limits ;  also  the  portion  west 
of  North  High  Street,  north  of  Broad  Street  and  south  of  the 
Big  Four  tracks  entering  Union  Station,  west  to  the  city  limits. 

The  East  Side. — The  East  Side  embraces  that  portion  of 
Columbus  east  of  North  High  Street,  north  of  Broad  Street 
and  south  of  the  Big  Four  tracks  entering  Union  Station, 
east  to  the  city  limits  ;^  also  the  portion  of  the  city  south  of 
Broad  Street  and  east  of  Parsons  Avenue,  south  and  east  to 
the  city  limits.  This  last  we  designate  as  the  Southeast  Cor- 
ner of  the  city. 

According  to  these  divisions  the  Welsh  are  distributed 
over  the  city  as  shown  in  table  IV. 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS 


71 


TABLE  IV. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  WELSH  OVER  THE 

CITY  OF  COLUMBUS 

Total  From  In  Welsh 

Number  General  C.  M. 

Part  of  city  addresses  Canvass  Church 

South  End  90  87  3 

West   Side    183  172  11 

North  End   391  377  14 

East  Side  664  441  223 

Totals! 1,328  1,077  251 

The  figures  in  table  IV.  above  represent  addresses  on 
cards  regularly  filled  in  the  General  Canvass  of  the  city  and 
those  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church.  The  canvasser  re- 
turned 1,136  record-cards,  of  these  59  were  with  addresses 
omitted  or  indistinguishable.  The  remaining  1,077  were  scat- 
tered over  the  city  as  indicated  in  table  IV.  Likewise  the  251 
addresses  of  families  and  individuals  connected  with  the  Cal- 
vinistic Methodist  Church  are  distributed  over  the  city  as  per 
table. 

Smaller  groups  were  also  formed  of  the  several  divisions. 
For  the  South  Side  no  smaller  divisions  were  made.^  Of  the 
West  Side  two  subdivisions  were  made,  viz.  (i)  from  the 
eastern^  boundary  as  given  above  to  the  Hill  Top,  or  Midland 
Avenue,  and  (ii)  from  the  Hill  Top  to  the  west  city  limits. 

The  North  End  is  subdivided  into  two  general  divisions, 
and  these  two  into  three  lesser  groups  respectively  as  follows : 

(i)  All  the  region  north  of  the  Big  Four  tracks  entering 
Union  Station  and  west  of  North  High  Street,  subdivided  as 
follows : 

(a)  From  the  Big  Four  tracks  north  to  1st.  Avenue  and 
west  to  the  city  limits. 

(b)  From  1st  Avenue  north  to  11th  Avenue  and  west  to 
the  city  limits. 

1  The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  figures  in  table  IV.  represent, 
not  individuals  but  addresses,  and  that  whole  families  have  the  same  address 
in  some  case^,  while  in  others  the  address  is  that  of  an  individual. 

2  See  rough  outline  map  of  Columbus  on  next  page. 


.aDOOQQQESgl 

T— 3DDDnQDD0DDDyyyH' 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  73 

(c)     From  11th  Avenue,  north  and  west  to  the  city  limits. 

(ii)  All  the  region  north  of  the  Big  Four  tracks  entering 
Union  Station,  east  of  North  High  Street,  east  and  north  to 
the  city  limits,  subdivided  as  follows : 

(a)  From  the  Big  Four  tracks  north  to  1st  Avenue,  east 
to  the  city  limits. 

(b)  From  1st  Avenue  north  to  11th  and  Woodward  Ave- 
nues, and  east  to  the  city  limits. 

(c)  From  11th  and  Woodward  Avenues  to  the  north  and 
east  city  limits. 

Of  the  East  Side  three  divisions  are  made  as  follows : 

(i)  All  the  region  east  of  North  High  Street  and  north 
of  Broad  Street  as  far  as  the  Big  Four  tracks  entering  Union 
Station,  east  to  Hamilton  Avenue. 

(ii)  The  region  north  of  Broad  and  south  of  the  Big  Four 
tracks  east  of  Hamilton  Avenue  to  the  east  city  limits. 

(iii)  All  the  region  south  of  Broad  Street  and  east  of 
Parsons  Avenue,  south  and  east  to  the  city  limits. 

For  the  South  End  no  smaller  divisions  were  made,  the 
total  there  being  only  90,  and  only  3  of  the  90  are  addresses 
of  people  belonging  to  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  and 
the  three  are  addressses  of  individuals.  Thus  we  see  that 
there  is  not  a  single  Welsh  family  south  of  Broad  Street  in 
the  region  west  of  Parsons  Avenue  identified  with  the  Cal- 
vinistic Methodist  Church  today.  This  is  significant  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  early  Welsh  community,  grouped  about 
its  church,  was  almost  entirely  south  of  Broad  Street  and  west 
of  Parsons  Avenue.  The  Welsh  are  distributed  according  to 
the  subgroups  above  for  the  West  Side,  North  End  and  East 
Side  as  follows: 

West  Side  total  183;  (i)  From  eastern  boundary  to  Hill 
Top  130 ;  9  of  these  are  addresses  of  people  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church,  (ii)  From  the  Hill  Top  to  the  west  city 
limits,  53 ;  2  of  these  are  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church. 

For  the  North  End,  first  division,  (a)  80;  none  of 
which  are  addresses  of  persons  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 


74  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Church  and  society,  (b)  173;  5  of  these  are  addresses  of 
people  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society,  (c) 
17;  3  of  these  are  addresses  of  persons  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  and  society. 

Second  division,  (a)  25;  one  of  them  is  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  and  society,  (b)  45;  2  are  addresses  of 
persons  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society,  (c) 
50;  and  3  of  these  are  addresses  of  persons  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  and  society. 

Over  the  East  Side  the  Welsh  are  distributed  according  to 
the  above  subdivision  as  follows:  (i)  First  division,  331; 
167,  or  a  little  over  one-half  of  them,  are  addresses  of  people 
in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  (ii)  Second  division, 
205;  37  of  these  are  addresses  of  people  in  the  Calvinistic 
Church  and  society,  (iii)  Third  division,  128;  19  of  them 
are  addresses  of  people  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
and  society. 

When  we  recall  that  scarcely  a  family  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  12  or  15  years  ago  lived  east  of  Hamilton 
Avenue,  and  that  now  we  have  56  addresses  of  people  in  that 
church  who  are  living  east  of  Hamilton  and  Parsons  Avenues 
(about  50  of  the  56  being  addresses  of  families  in  that  church, 
the  remainder  being  of  single  individuals)  one  realizes  how 
the  Welsh  are  rapidly  abandoning  the  old  stamping  ground, 
and  the  once  much  cherished  neighborhood  of  Welshburg,  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  church.  That  there  are  167 
addresses  of  families  and  individuals  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  church  shows  that  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  those 
who  settled  there  in  an  early  day  is  to  retain  their  homes  near 
the  church.  But  this  study  of  the  distribution  of  the  Welsh 
over  the  whole  city  proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  Welsh 
have  scattered  greatly  in  the  last  decade,  or  a  little  more. 

POPULATION  BY  AGE  CLASSES 
Our  data  for  the  population  by  age  classes  is  not  sufficient- 
ly complete  in  the  general  canvass  of  the  city,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  answers  to  the  subdivisions  of  question  15  on  the 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  75 

record-cards  were  not  complete  enough  to  be  relied  upon  for 
the  purpose  of  this  work.  From  question  15  to  the  end  of  the 
questions  on  the  record-cards,  let  us  be  reminded,  is  what  we 
have  designated  as  ** Incomplete  Classification.'*  For  the 
statistics  on  this  subject  we  are  compelled  to  use  the  smaller 
group  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society,  the 
total  of  which  is  672.1 

In  the  first  Age-class  (those  five  years  old  and  under) 
there  are  more  males  than  females,  and  likewise  in  the  second 
age-class,  (childhood,  6  to  15).  In  the  third  age-class.  Youths, 
there  are  more  females  than  males.  But  for  the  total  under 
the  "Maturity"  class  the  males  are  in  excess  of  females  by  2, 
the  total  of  each  being  107  males  and  105  females.  In  each 
of  the  remaining  age-classes  the  females  are  in  excess  as  may 
be  seen  from  the  table.  One  reason  for  this  excess  of  females 
in  the  maturity  age-class  is  the  large  number  of  domestics  in 
the  roll  of  the  church  membership ;  there  are  35  domestics,  or 
servant  girls,  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society. 
Another  reason  is,  the  large  percent  of  widows  over  widowers ; 
there  are  40  widows  and  only  17  widowers. 

SEX 

Of  the  entire  3,174  Welsh  people  canvassed  in  Columbus, 
1,704  were  males  and  1,470  were  females.  2,368  of  the  whole 
number  were  of  pure  Welsh  blood  and  806  were  children  of 
mixed  marriages.  Of  the  full-blood  Welsh  1,945  were  adults 
regularly  classified,  and  of  these  1,077  were  males  and  868 
were  females;  423  of  the  full-blood  Welsh  were  children  of 
Welsh  parents  not  regularly  classified,  and  of  these  211  were 
males  and  212  were  females.  Of  the  806  children  of  mixed 
marriages  416  were  males  and  390  were  females. 

This  does  not  represent  accurately  the  percent  of  Welsh 
males  and  females  in  the  city  for  no  doubt  there  were  many 
females  who  married  males  of  other  nationalities  that  were 
not  located  by  the  canvasser.  It  is  likewise  very  probable 
that  many  Welsh  domestics  were  not  found  by  him. 


1     See  Appendix  B. 


76  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Statistics  on  the  relative  fecundity  of  full-blood  and  mixed 
marriages  would  be  interesting  and  profitable  if  such  could  be 
ascertained.  But  our  canvass  dealt  with  the  Welsh  of  Co- 
lumbus, and  children  who  had  grown  up  in  homes  and  had 
left  the  city  were  not  recorded,  consequently  our  statistics  are 
not  complete  enough  for  such  analysis. 

THE  FOREIGN  AND  NATIVE  BORN 
The  great  majority  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  are  native 
bom.  From  the  two  groups  regularly  classiled,  viz.  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  and  the  Regularly 
Classified  in  the  general  canvass,  there  are  672  and  1,273  re- 
spectively, making  a  total  of  1,945.  The  analysis  of  this  num- 
ber may  be  seen  by  consulting  table  VI.^ 

To  the  total  of  native  bom  as  indicated  in  Table  VI.  may 
be  added  the  ** Incomplete  Classification^'  group  which  num- 
bers 1,229,  as  follows: 

Children  from  mixed  marriages 806 

Children  from  Welsh  parents 423 

The  children  from  mixed  marriages  are  doubtless  all  native 
bom.  And  the  children  of  Welsh  parents  in  this  group  are 
in  all  probability  very  nearly  all  native  bom.  Granted  that 
this  be  true,  our  number  of  native  born  is  2,778,  as  over  against 
396  foreign  bom  Welsh  in  the  city.  The  percent  would  be 
87.5  native  bom,  and  foreign  bom  12.5  percent.  To  be  sure, 
if  every  Welsh  person  in  the  city  had  been  canvassed,  the  can- 
vass would  show  more  than  396  foreign  bom  Welsh.  But 
there  would  be  a  corresponding,  or  greater,  increase  in  the 
total  number  of  native  bom  Welsh  as  well. 

THE  PLACE  OF  BIRTH 
The  birth-place  of  the  foreign  born  Welsh  of  course  is 
Wales.  The  greater  part  of  the  early  settlers  came  from 
Montgomeryshire  in  North  Wales.  Thereafter  a  great  many 
Southwaleans  came  here  into  the  mills,  and  indirectly  from 
local  settlements  in  Ohio. 

1     See  Appendix  0.     See  also  Figure  2  on  opposite  page. 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS 


T7 


Figure  2 


cm 


756 
10  4- 


Figure  2  is  a  graphic  representation  of  table  VI.  page  94. 
The  segments  are  as  follows : 

Segment  a.     The  total  native  born. 

Segment  b.     The  total  foreign  born. 


78  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

We  cannot  give  the  exact  birth-place  of  the  Welsh  of  Co- 
lumbus, but  what  is  even  more  interesting  and  perhaps  more 
important,  in  the  study  of  a  limited  group  such  as  we  are  now 
considering,  is  to  know  where  the  people  were  raised  and 
what  the  early  influences  were  which  surrounded  them  up  to 
the  age  of  manhood  or  maturity.  With  this  idea  in  view  ques- 
tion 9  on  the  record-card  was:  *' Where  was  your  old  home?*' 
By  ''old  home*'  we  mean  the  place  where  the  person  was 
brought  up.  The  object  in  asking  such  a  question  was  to  find 
out  whether  the  person  was  raised  and  surrounded  in  his 
youth  and  formative  period  of  life  by  Welsh  influences  such 
as  he  would  have  if  he  were  reared  in  Wales  or  in  a  rural 
community  in  this  country  thickly  populated  by  Welsh  people, 
such  as  Jackson  and  Gallia.  The  very  next  question  on  the 
record-card  was  *'How  many  years  have  you  lived  in  Colum- 
bus T'  A  person  may  have  been  foreign  born,  but  owing  to 
leaving  Wales  with  his  parents  when  a  mere  child,  as  many 
of  the  present  Welsh  of  Columbus  did,  he  would  give  another 
place  as  his  **old  home.'' 

Our  returns  from  the  general  canvass  gave  interesting  re- 
sults in  this  line  of  inquiry.  From  the  Regularly  Classified 
group  we  here  give  914  who  filled  out  the  ''Old  Home'*  col- 
umn. Others  were  scattering,  where  less  than  four  were  given 
for  a  community  we  did  not  make  record  of  them.  Likewise 
of  those  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  we 
give  place  names  of  the  "Old  Home''  of  the  adults  for  whom 
cards  were  regularly  filled  out,  but  not  for  children  in  the 
families.  Most  of  the  children  are  raised  in  Columbus.  Of 
this  group  we  have  419. 


WELSH  POPULATION  STATISTICS  7» 

TABLE  VII. 

THE  ''OLD  HOMES* '^  OF  THE  WELSH  OF 
COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Total  From  the  In  the 

Place                       number.  General  Canvass.    C.  M.  Church 

Columbus    447  394  53 

Jackson  and  Gallia    396  166  230 

Wales  G.  B 235  168  67 

Vanwert  and  Put- 
nam Counties  . .      64  12  52 
Hocking  Valley  . .       58  56  2 
Licking  County  . .       44  42  2 
Delaware  County.  .30  28  2 

Pomeroy    22  21  1 

Ironton    14  9  5 

Allen    County....       11  11  0 

Portsmouth    7  6  1 

Martin's  Ferry...         4  0  4 

Totals    1,333  914  419 

It  is  very  significant  that  out  of  447  who  stated  that 
Columbus  is  their  *'old  home''  only  11.7  percent  are  in  the 
Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  while  out  of  396  who  gave  Jack- 
son and  Gallia  settlement  as  their  **old  home''  58  percent  are 
in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church;  and  out  of  64  who  gave 
Venedocia  in  Vanwert  County  and  Sugar  Creek  in  Putnam 
County  as  their  **old  home"  81.2  percent  are  in  the  Welsh 
Calvinistic  Methodist  Church.  Of  the  235  who  gave  Wales 
as  their  **old  home"  only  28.6  percent  are  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church.  The  trend  of  these  figures  prove  that  the 
supply  for  the  Welsh  churches  in  Columbus  in  the  past  25 

1  The  reader  will  observe  the  distinction  made  between  "Old  Home,"  and 
"Foreign  Born."  67  persons  in  the  C.  M.  church  gave  Wales  as  their  old 
home,  while  127  of  the  members  were  foreign  born.  That  means  that  60  out 
of  the  127  came  to  this  country  in  childhood  and  could  not  call  Wales  their 
"old  home."  The  writer  has  one  person  distinctly  in  mind  who  has  the  fol- 
lowing record:  She  came  from  Wales  with  her  parents  when  8he  was  two 
years  old.  She  lived  with  her  parents  in  Jackson  and  Gallia  until  she  was  a 
young  woman  of  25  or  more.  She  then  moved  to  Columbus  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  C.  M.  church  at  present.  This  person  is  recorded  as  follows: 
Foreign  Born,   but    "Old  Home,"   Jackson  and  Oallia  Settlement. 


UN  J  VERS!  TV 


80  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

years  or  more  has  come  from  the  rural  districts  of  Ohio  and 
not  from  Columbus  itself  nor  from  Wales. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Welsh  church  in  the  past  has  lost  many  of  its  children 
because  of  refusing  to  adapt  itself  to  their  need  through  its 
too  great  allegiance  to  the  Welsh  language.  This  is  made 
clear  in  the  fact  that  only  53  out  of  447  Welsh  people  who 
give  Columbus  as  their  **old  home''  are  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church.  Only  29  persons  in  the  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dist Church  are  the  direct  descendants  of  the  old  Welsh 
families  of  Columbus,  but  there  are  scores  of  them  in  the  Eng- 
lish churches  of  the  city.  They  are  lost  to  the  Welsh  church 
through  lack  of  adaptation  on  the  part  of  the  church,  and  be- 
cause of  manifold  other  influences  they  are  gradually  being 
assimilated  into  the  American  population  of  the  city. 

In  very  recent  years  things  have  changed.  The  Welsh 
church  is  now  adapting  itself  to  its  children,  and  they  are 
being  held  to  the  Welsh  church  even  though  they  are  being 
assimilated  otherwise  into  the  American  population  of  Colum- 
bus. AH  of  which  means  that  the  Welsh  church  of  the  city 
is  rapidly  coming  to  recognize  the  fact  that  it  must  change  in 
order  to  minister  to  its  own  people. 


CHAPTER  V. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS 
General  Statement 

The  Welsh  people  of  Columbus  are  no  longer  a  small  group 
located  in  one  particular  part  of  the  city  with  immediate  com- 
munity interests  and  influenced  more  or  less  exclusively  by 
their  own  local  group.  They  are  scattered  all  over  the  city 
and  are  influenced  by  environments  other  than  Welsh  in  their 
respective  neighborhoods.  On  the  other  hand  they  are  bound 
together,  as  Welsh  people,  by  ties  common  to  themselves  and 
to  this  extent  they  are  more  or  less  independent  of  their  re- 
spective localities  in  their  interests.  The  chief  bonds  here 
are  the  literary  and  improvement  societies,  the  Welsh 
language,  and  the  Welsh  church. 

With  this  brief  introductory  statement,  let  us  give  our 
attention  to  the  following  topics  for  discussion  in  this  chapter 
on  Social  Statistics:  Marriage  and  Conjugal  Relation; 
Families,  Dwellings,  and  Residence  districts;  Occupation  and 
Business  Relations;  Education;  Literary  and  Improvement 
Societies;  Morality  and  Temperance;  Politics;  Church  Mem- 
bership. 

MARRIAGE  AND  CONJUGAL  RELATION 

Our  study  of  marriage  and  conjugal  relation  among  the 
Welsh  of  Columbus  is  concerned  chiefly  with  an  investigation 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  Welsh  people  tend  to  cling  together 
through  marriage,  by  an  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  relative 
number  of  Welsh  who  marry  within  their  own  nationality  and 
the  number  who  intermarry  with  persons  of  other  nationali- 
ties. 

At  one  time  it  was  looked  upon  with  great  disfavor  and 
even  as  a  disgrace  for  a  Welsh  person  to  marry  outside  of  his 
own  nationality.  No  matter  how  respectable  an  American,  or 
a  person  of  any  other  nationality,  might  be,  to  marry  him  was 


82  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

to  **lose  class''  to  a  great  extent  in  Welsh  society.  Perhaps 
the  chief  cause  underlying  this  prejudice  was  the  question  of 
the  Welsh  language  and  church.  For  it  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  the  children  brought  up  in  a  home  from  such  a 
union  would  not  be  taught  the  Welsh  language,  and  not  know- 
ing the  Welsh  language  they  could  not  enjoy  the  full  benefit 
of  religious  instruction  in  the  Welsh  church.  Ever3i;hing  in 
the  Welsh  church  a  decade  and  more  ago  was  carried  on  in  the 
Welsh  language. 

There  was  a  church  rule,  also,  which  was  in  force  about  25 
years  ago  which  caused  much  discomfort  to  the  young  Welsh 
person  who  was  a  member  of  the  church  and  who  fell  in  love 
with  a  person  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  church,  whether 
that  person  was  Welsh  or  of  some  other  nationalty.  The  law, 
or  rule,  was  called  '*Y  Seithfed  Rheol.''  Translated  it  means 
*'The  Seventh  Rule.''  The  Seventh  Rule  was  based  on  the 
words  of  Saint  Paul  in  II.  Corinthians  6:14,  which  read  as 
follows:  **Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbe- 
lievers." Based  upon  these  words.  The  Seventh  Rule  was 
made  to  the  effect  that  no  member  of  the  church  should  mar- 
ry a  person  outside  of  the  church.  For  a  short  time  this  rule 
held  sway  and  was  rigidly  enforced.  Church  members  who 
married  non-church  members  were  churched.  There  is  a 
deeper  law,  however,  which  governs  society,  and  such  a  rule 
of  the  church  could  not  last  long  and  like  many  other  drastic 
measures  it  spent  itself  and  today  it  is  never  heard  of  in  the 
Welsh  church. 

INTERMARRIAGE 
**  There  are  many  influences  tending  to  merge  the  foreign 
born  population  with  the  native  bom  in  the  United  States. 
The  most  natural  and  effective  way  of  welding  diverse  nation- 
alities or  races  into  one  nation  is  by  intermarriages  between 
foreigners  and  natives  of  different  nationalities.  Thereby  is 
brought  about  a  mixture  of  blood  and  community  of  customs 
and  habits  of  life  which  efface  any  previous  differences."^ 


1     See   "Statistics  and  Sociology"  p.  304. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  83 

Professor  Mayo-Smith  further  states,  however,  that  **we  shall 
not  be  able  to  trace  this  statistically  for  the  statistics  of  mar- 
riage in  the  United  Staes  are  nelher  accurate  nor  complete, 
and  do  not  give  the  nationality  of  the  bride  and  groom/' 

In  our  study  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  we  have  endeav- 
ored to  do  this  very  thing.  We  have  endeavored  to  trace  the 
extent  to  which  the  Welsh  cling  together  in  their  marriage 
relations,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  sought  to  know 
how  far  amalgamation  has  gone  on  through  intermarriage 
with  people  of  other  nationalities.  It  was  not  possible  for  us 
to  ascertain  from  the  results  of  our  canvass  whether  the  people 
of  other  nationalities,  such  as  Irish  and  Germans  with  whom 
the  Welsh  intermarried,  were  foreign  or  native  born. 

The  result  of  our  inquiry  along  this  line  is  given  in  three 
tables,  viz.  VIII.,  IX.  and  X.  These  tables  are  compiled  from 
the  returns  of  our  general  canvass  of  the  city,  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  not  being  considered  in  these  tables.^ 

Table  VIII.  shows,  (i)  the  total  number  of  marriages;  (ii) 
the  number  of  marriages  between  Welsh  persons;  and  (iii) 
the  number  of  mixed  marriages.  Table  IX.  shows  the  number 
of  mixed  marriages  between  Welsh  males  and  females  of  other 
nationalities,  and  the  nationalities  into  which  they  have  mar- 
ried ;  and  Table  X.  does  the  same  for  Welsh  females  who  have 
married  males  of  other  nationalities. 

The  total  number  of  marriages  recorded  in  this  canvass, 
as  indicated  by  the  above  mentioned  tables,  is  653.  Of  this 
total  525,  or  80.4  percent,  are  mixed  marriages;  while  only 
19.6  percent  are  marriages  between  Welsh  persons.^  The  per- 
centages for  the  three  largest  groups,  viz.  the  foreign  bom 
Welsh,  the  native  born  of  foreign  parents,  and  the  native  born 
of  native  parents,  run  as  follows :  Total  number  of  marriages 
on  the  part  of  foreign  bom  Welsh,  108 ;  percent  of  these  be- 
tween Welsh  persons,  38.8  percent  of  marriages  between  per- 
sons one  of  whom  was  Welsh  and  the  other  of  some  other 
nationality,  61.2.     The  total  number  of  marriages  on  the  part 

1  See  Appendix  D. 

2  See  Figure  8  on  page  84. 


84 


THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


Figure  3 


ED 


dO.4 
/9.6 


Figure  3  is  a  graphic  representation  of  Table  VIII.,  ap- 
pendix D.     The  segments  are  as  follows: 

Segment  a.     Total  number  of  mixed  marriages. 
Segment  b.     Total  marriages  between  Welsh  persons. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  8S 

of  native  bom  of  foreign  parents,  185;  percent  of  these  be- 
tween Welsh  persons,  10.8;  percent  of  marriages  between  per- 
sons one  of  whom  was  Welsh  and  the  other  of  some  other 
nationality,  89.2.  Total  number  of  marriages  on  the  part  of 
native  bom  of  native  parents  212;  percent  of  these  between 
Welsh  persons,  6.1;  percent  of  marriages  between  persons 
one  of  whom  was  Welsh  and  the  other  of  some  other  national- 
ity, 93.9.2 

It  is  evident  that  the  tendency  to  intermarry  with  persons 
of  other  nationalities  increases  as  we  get  farther  away  from 
the  foreign  bom  Welsh  group.  When  we  realize  that  the 
largest  group  in  the  three  mentioned  above  is  the  native  bom 
of  native  parents,  viz.  212,  and  that  only  6.1  of  these  married 
Welsh  with  Welsh,  it  shows  a  condition  of  rapid  assimilation 
on  the  part  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  outside  of  the  Calvin- 
istic  Methodist  Church. 

In  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Chuch  there  are  25  mixed 
marriages  or  marriages  between  Welsh  persons  and  persons 
of  other  nationalities.  They  run  as  follows:  Foreign  born 
Welsh  with  persons  of  other  nationalities,  4;  native  bom 
Welsh  of  foreign  parents  with  persons  of  other  nationalities, 
11 ;  Native  born  having  father  foreign  and  mother  native,  4 ; 
Native  born  having  father  native  and  mother  foreign,  1; 
Native  born  of  native  parents,  5.  Almost  one-half  of  this 
group  of  mixed  marriages  are  from  the  native  bom  of  foreign 
parents  class,  or,  counting  those  one  of  whose  parents  is  for- 
eign and  the  other  native,  more  than  one-half,  viz.  15  out  of 
25,  as  over  against  5  of  the  native  bom  of  native  parents  class. 
The  reason  for  this  doubtless  is  that  the  Welsh  of  a  marriage- 
able age  in  the  Welsh  church  for  some  time  past  have  been  the 
native  bom  of  foreign  parents  group,  while  many  of  the  native 
bom  of  native  parents  who  intermarried  left  the  Welsh  church 
with  their  partners  and  joined  an  English  church,  consequent- 
ly there  is  more  intermarriage  on  the  part  of  the  native  bom 
of  foreign  parents  class  than  any  other  in  the  Welsh  church 


2     See  Fi^re  4  on  page  86  and  87. 


86  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


Figure  4 

Figure  4  is  in  three  parts : — 

1.  The  marriages  of  foreign  born  Welsh. 

2.  The  marriages  of  the  native  bom  of  foreign  parents. 

3.  The  marriages  of  the  native  bom  of  native  parents. 

The  size  of  the  circles  represents  the  relative  number  of 
marriages  in  each  group.  The  segments  *  ^  a ' '  and  *  *  b  "  in  each 
circle  represent: 

a.  The  total  number  of  mixed  marriages. 

b.  The  total  number  of  marriages  between  Welsh  persons. 


/ 


38.8 
I 1  6/.£ 

/oo.o 

Total  number  of  marriages  on  the  part  of  foreign  bom 
Welsh  represented  in  the  above  circle  is  108. 


/0.3 

ds,z 


/oo.  o 

Total  number  of  marriages  on  the  part  of  native  bom  of 
foreign  parents  represented  in  the  above  circle  is  185. 


93-9 


100.  0 
Total  number  of  marriages  on  the  part  of  native  born 
Welsh  having  native  parents  represented  in  the  above  circle 
is  212. 


88  THE  WELSH  OP  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

at  present.  Never  before  was  there  as  large  a  number  of 
mixed  marriages  in  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
in  Columbus. 

Tables  IX.  and  X.  show  the  relative  number  of  males  and 
females  in  each  group  of  mixed  marriages,  giving  also  the 
nationalities  into  which  they  married.  From  a  comparison 
of  the  two  tables  it  appears  that  a  much  larger  percent  of 
males  have  intermarried  with  other  nationalities  than  of 
females.  The  reason  for  this,  very  largely  no  doubt,  is  our 
inability  to  locate  the  females  who  have  married  males  of 
other  nationalities.  So  while  the  numbers  here  given  are  399 
Welsh  males  who  have  married  females  of  other  nationalities, 
126  Welsh  females  who  have  married  males  of  other  nationali- 
ties, or  74  and  26  percent  respectively,  it  cannot  be  claimed 
to  represent  the  situation  accurately,  for  the  Welsh  females 
have  perhaps  intermarried  with  other  nationalities  quite  as 
much  as  the  Welsh  males  have.  The  percentage  of  Welsh 
males  and  Welsh  females  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
and  society  who  have  intermarried  with  other  nationalities 
points  in  this  direction,  as  well  as  general  observation  on  the 
part  of  the  writer.  Of  the  25  mixed  marriages  in  the  Calvin- 
istic Methodist  Church,  16  were  marriages  between  Welsh  fe- 
males and  males  of  other  nationalities,  and  9  were  between 
Welsh  males  and  females  of  other  nationalities.  Moreover, 
out  of  17  marriages  solomnized  by  the  writer  as  pastor  of  the 
Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  three  years  time,  marriages 
contracted  between  persons  one  of  whom  at  least  was  a  member 
of  his  church,  9  were  between  Welsh  persons,  and  8  were  be- 
tween persons  one  of  whom  was  Welsh  and  the  other  of  some 
other  nationality.  Of  the  8  mixed  marriages,  7  were  between 
Welsh  females  and  males  of  some  other  nationality,  and  only 
one  was  on  the  part  of  a  Welsh  male  with  a  female  of  another 
nationality.  Judging  from  this  very  limited  group,  the  tend- 
ency to  intermarry  with  other  nationalities  is  greater  among 
Welsh  females  than  Welsh  males.  But  this  may  be  an  ex- 
ceptional group  in  this  respect;  at  any  rate  it  is  too  limited 
to  give  any  definite  conclusions. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  99 

Furthermore,  the  relative  numbers  of  nationalities  into 
which  the  Welsh  have  intermarried  as  represented  in  tables 
IX.  and  X.  cannot  be  regarded  as  exact,  or  absolutely  accu- 
rate. For  this  reason  we  do  not  reduce  them  to  percentages 
for  comparison.  The  number  of  Germans,  Irish,  etc.,  are 
accurate  as  here  stated.  But  the  column  marked  **  American'' 
cannot  be  claimed  as  accurate  for  the  reason  that  it  is  difficult 
to  state  what  an  American  is,  or  who  is  an  American.  For 
example,  a  person  whose  ancestors  came  from  Germany,  or 
whose  father  and  mother  were  both  bom  in  Ireland,  may  call 
himself  an  American,  and  properly  so.  The  rule  followed 
here  has  been  to  state  the  nationalities  as  German  or  Ameri- 
can, and  so  on,  just  as  they  were  given  in  the  record-cards. 
While  the  column  marked  ** American''  may  contain  the 
names  of  other  distinct  nationalities,  the  fact  that  the  Welsh 
have  freely  intermarried  with  other  nationalities  is  substan- 
tiated throughout,  and  that  they  are  rapidly  becoming  assim- 
ilated into  the  great  American  people  is  proved  without  a 
possible  question  of  doubt.  Were  it  possible  to  add  here  the 
classification  of  children  who  are  only  half  Welsh,  and  con- 
tinue this  to  those  who  are  one-fourth  and  one-eighth  part 
Welsh,  we  would  readily  see  how  the  Welsh,  as  such,  are  van- 
ishing and  losing  their  identity,  through  amalgamation,  into 
what  we  may  call  the  American  people. 

FAMILIES,  DWELLINGS  AND  RESIDENT  DISTRICTS 
Our  statistics  from  the  general  canvass  of  the  city  on  this 
subject  do  not  give  information  sufficiently  accurate  to  draw 
conclusions  from  them.  So,  for  our  knowledge  on  this  phase 
of  our  inquiry,  we  are  compelled  to  satisfy  ourselves  with  the 
statistics  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society 
alone,  the  total  of  which  is  672. 

In  this  group  there  are  190  families.  The  average  size  of 
a  family  is  3.8.  They  run  as  follows :  Families  consisting  of 
one  member,  9 ;  families  consisting  of  two  members,  46 ;  fam- 
ilies consisting  of  three  members,  43;  families  consisting  of 
four  members,  35;  families  consisting  of  five  members,  19; 


90  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

families  consisting  of  six  members,  19 ;  families  consisting  of 
seven  members,  10;  families  consisting  of  eight  members,  7; 
families  consisting  of  nine  members,  2.  There  are  no  families 
of  more  than  nine  members.  There  are  40  widows  and  17 
widowers  in  this  group. 

These  are  days  of  small  families  among  the  Welsh  of  Co- 
lumbus. Mr.  L.  D.  Davies,  in  his  pamphlet  on  the  Welsh  of 
Columbus  previous  to  1860,  refers  to  large  families,  and  we 
observed  in  a  foregoing  chapter  that  the  early  Welsh  of  Jack- 
son and  Gallia,  and  other  settlements  in  early  days,  also  had 
large  families.  While  Mr.  Davies  makes  no  point  of  enumer- 
ating the  families  and  their  respective  sizes,  he  refers  to  some 
as  being  very  large  and  incidentally  mentions  the  number  of 
children  in  some  of  the  families.  He  refers  to  one  family 
which  came  to  Columbus  in  that  period  and  which  later  moved 
to  Brown  Township,  as  having  15  children,  all  of  whom  were 
living  at  home  at  the  same  time.  Another  family  of  eleven 
children  is  mentioned,  and  two  families  having  ten  children 
in  each,  three  families  having  eight  children  and  three  having 
seven  children.  In  January  1910,  there  were  26  married 
couples  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  with 
no  children;  40  families  with  but  one  child,  while  only  two 
families  had  as  many  as  seven  children. 

To  discuss  the  causes  for  this  condition  with  any  degree  of 
satisfaction  is  not  easy.  But  doubtless  there  are  at  least  two 
contributing  causes,  and  perhaps  more,  (i)  Economic  con- 
siderations have  their  influence;  inability  to  support  large 
families  affects  this  problem.  Then  (ii)  closely  linked  with 
the  economic  consideration  is  the  social  reason,  viz.  the  desire 
to  properly  rear  children  bom  to  the  home,  and  consequently 
the  desire  to  have  a  limited  family  to  whom  good  advantages 
may  be  given. 

Regarding  dwellings  and  residence  districts  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Welsh  generally  speaking  live  in  comfortable  homes. 
The  large  majority  of  them  belong  to  the  skilled  labor  class, 
and  live  well;  they  occupy  houses  having  from  six  to  eight 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  91 

rooms.  The  dwellings  of  the  Welsh,  to  be  sure,  represent  the 
two  extremes,  and  they  reside  in  parts  of  the  city  representing 
the  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty.  The  streets  and  localities 
where  they  are  found  are  somewhat  indicative  of  their  social 
welfare.  Some  of  the  Welsh  own  very  fine  homes  on  Broad 
Street,  while  others  live  in  dingy  huts  in  the  poorer  sections  of 
the  city  such  as  west  of  North  High  Street  on  either  side  of  the 
railroad  tracks.  The  writer  has  visited  a  poor  widow,  who 
supported  herself  by  washing,  living  in  a  one  room  cottage 
with  just  a  kitchen  attached  to  it  in  the  rear.  For  this  cot- 
tage she  paid  $3.00  per  month  rent.  She  was  is  poor  health, 
suffering  from  asthma  and  had  to  rely  on  charity  for  aid  when 
she  was  ill  and  unable  to  earn  a  living.  Such  cases  are  rare 
among  the  Welsh,  and  very  seldom  do  we  find  a  Welsh  person 
dependent  on  charity.  The  average  Welsh  home  is  comfortable 
and  well  equipped  with  good  furniture,  well  located  on  re- 
spectable and  improved  streets,  and  its  inhabitants  enjoy  a 
wholesome  and  comfortable  living. 

In  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  over  50 
percent  of  the  families  own  their  homes.  While  not  all  are 
free  from  incumbrance,  many  of  them  own  property  besides 
their  homes.  And  while  less  than  50  percent  are  renters, 
even  some  of  those  who  rent  are  property  holders  and  a  large 
number  of  single  persons  are  property  owners  in  the  city. 
Many  are  in  business  for  themselves,  and  some  may  be  classed 
as  ''well-to-do.'' 

The  Welsh  of  Columbus  are  thrifty  and  live  well,  but  with 
it  all  they  practice  a  wholesome  economy.  They  are  saving 
without  being  stingy.  They  are  home-lovers  and  make  much 
of  home  life.  Their  hospitality  is  phenomenal.  Their  child- 
ren are  well  trained  in  diligence,  and  have  a  good  knowledge 
of  the  practical  things  of  life.  Seldom  will  one  find  a  girl 
brought  up  in  a  Welsh  home  who  is  not  familiar  with  all  the 
details  of  practical  housekeeping.  Nor  do  they  neglect  the 
cultural  phase  of  life  in  the  home.  They  have  good  books. 
Very  little  trashy  literature  will  be  found  in  the  average 


92  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Welsh  home.  They  make  much  of  music.  As  a  rule  the  home 
where  there  are  children  has  a  piano,  and  Welsh  children  are 
taught  to  sing  as  well  as  to  play  on  musical  instruments. 

OCCUPATION  GROUPS  AND  BUSINESS  RELATIONS 
The  following  statistics  are  based  on  the  returns  from  the 
Regularly  Classified  group  in  the  general  canvass  and  from 
the  statistics  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and 
society.  Three  classifications  are  made  according  to  occupa- 
tion groups,  with  an  additional  group  of  occupations  unclassi- 
fied. 

The  three  general  Occupation  Groups  classified  are:  (i) 
Professional  and  Official  Group,  (ii)  Those  having  to  do 
with  Commerce  and  Transportation,  (iii)  Those  who  are 
connected  with  Manufacture  and  Mechanical  Industry,  (iv) 
The  fourth  group  is  that  of  occupations  unclassified.  The 
total  of  Welsh  persons  who  gave  their  occupations  is  966,  and 
they  are  distributed  as  to  occupation  groups  as  follows :  The 
largest  occupation  group  is  the  Commercial  and  Transporta- 
tion Group.  It  numbers  409,  or  41.5  percent  of  the  entire 
working  force  of  Welsh  people  here  considered.  Of  the  Com- 
mercial and  Transportation  Group,  the  commercial  clerks, 
bookkeepers,  stenographers,  salesmen,  both  city  and  traveling, 
constitute  65.6  percent  of  the  group,  or  27.2  percent  of  the  en- 
tire working  force  of  the  Welsh  people  in  Columbus  according 
to  our  canvass.  A  little  less  than  one-third  of  the  Commercial 
clerks  are  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society. 
About  one-third  of  the  entire  clerkship  force  are  females. 
Railroaders  constitute  8.7  percent  of  this  occupation  group, 
and  they  are  3.6  percent  of  the  entire  working  force  of  the 
Welsh  people. 

The  next  largest  occupation  group  is  that  of  persons  con- 
nected with  Manufacturing  and  Mechanical  Industry.  In  this 
group  there  are  323  persons,  or  a  little  more  than  one-third  of 
the  entire  working  force  here  considered.  244  of  these  are 
from  the  general  canvass,  and  79  are  in  the  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dist Church  and  society.    The  largest  class  in  this  occupation 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  98 

group  are  the  carpenters  and  joiners  of  whom  there  are  63, 
or  20.1  percent  of  the  group,  and  6.7  percent  of  the  entire 
working  force  of  the  Welsh  people  canvassed.  The  next 
largest  class  in  this  occupation  group  are  the  painters  and 
decorators  of  whom  there  are  29;  then  come  the  machinists, 
24  in  number;  blacksmiths,  11;  factory  women,  10;  and  the 
remainder  are  scattered  among  52  different  occupations  hav- 
ing less  than  ten  in  each. 

The  third  of  the  occupation  groups  is  that  of  Professional 
and  Official  occupations.  In  this  group  there  are  101,  or  10.5 
percent  of  the  whole  working  force  of  the  Welsh  people  can- 
vassed. Of  this  group,  22  are  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church  and  society.  The  remaining  79  are  from  the  general 
canvass  of  the  city.  47,  or  almost  one-half  of  this  occupation 
group,  are  teachers  and  instructors  in  the  city  schools.  High 
schools,  the  Ohio  State  University,  or  teachers  of  music. 
About  one-fifth  of  this  group  are  doctors;  16  of  whom  are 
Physicians;  3  are  Doctors  of  Dental  Surgery;  and  one  is  a 
Veterinary  Surgeon.  The  remainder  of  this  group  are  scat- 
tering with  less  than  five  in  a  given  profession  or  office. 

The  fourth  group,  which  is  not  classified,  has  in  it  141 
persons,  or  14.6  percent  of  the  whole  working  force.  76  of 
these  are  laborers,  36  are  domestics,  11  are  janitors,  8  are 
saloonkeepers  and  bartenders,  and  the  remaining  6  are  em- 
ployed with  some  form  of  personal  service. 

From  the  above  classification  according  to  occupation  it 
is  clear  that  a  large  percent  of  the  Welsh  are  skilled  laborers 
and  clerks  of  one  form  or  another,  and  that  one  in  every  ten 
is  in  some  profession  or  is  occupied  in  some  official  capacity. 
Relatively  few  are  laborers. 

Business  Relations. — The  Welsh  tend  to  cling  together  in 
business.  Welsh  contractors  employ  Welshmen  as  a  rule. 
Welsh  stone  masons  go  together.  The  Welsh  form  partner- 
ships in  such  businesses  as  grocery  stores,  etc.  This  form^ 
association  is  carried  on  quite  extensively  among  the  WelsS,^ 
Welsh  families  favor  a  Weldi  physician  as  a  rule.   ^And  they 


f 


94  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

patronize  stores  and  places  of  business  kept  by  men  of  their 
own  nationality,  and  even  favor  stores  and  business  houses 
where  Welsh  clerks  are  employed. 

EDUCATION 
The  children  of  the  Welsh  people  of  Columbus  attend  the 
city  schools,  the  grade  schools,  high  schools,  and  some  enter 
the  Ohio  State  University,  or  some  college.  Exact  statistics 
on  this  subject  for  the  entire  Welsh  population  of  Columbus 
we  could  not  obtain  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  draw  definite 
conclusions.  But  for  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
and  society  they  are  as  given  in  table  XI. 

TABLE  XI. 

EDUCATION 

Number  of  persons  who  have  had  college  education 14 

Number  of  persons  in  college  at  present 6 

Number  of  persons  who  have  had  professional  education.     7 

Number  of  persons  of  High  School  education 57 

Number  of  persons  now  attending  High  Schools 25 

Number  of  persons  now  in  Common  Schools 95 

Number  of  illiterates  3 

Number  under  five  years  of  age 52 

Number  of  those  not  classified  here 413 

Total ..672 

Of  the  413  not  classified  in  the  table  above,  practically  all 
have  had  a  common  school  education  or  its  equivalent,  and  a 
large  number  of  them  have  had  a  commercial  course  besides. 

LITERARY  AND  IMPROVEMENT  SOCIETIES 
The  old  time  interest  in  literary  societies  and  singing 
schools,  once  so  intense  among  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  is  now 
lagging.  From  25  to  50  years  ago  the  literary  society  was  a 
great  function,  and  it  aroused  great  interest  and  a  spirit  of 
rivalry  in  competition.  It  was  carried  on  almost  exclusively 
in  the  Welsh  language.  Today  societies  and  organizations  of 
a  distinctly  Welsh  character  are  practically  extinct  in  Colum- 
bus.    Some  cities  in  America,  where  the  Welsh  population  is 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  95 

larger  than  in  Columbus  and  in  other  cities  where  the  Welsh 
population  is  much  smaller,  flourishing  Welsh  organizations 
are  maintained  such  as  the  Cymrodorion  Society,  the  Ivorite 
Society,  the  Saint  David's  Society,^  etc.;  but  not  one  of  these 
societies  of  a  distinctly  Welsh  character  are  found  among  the 
Welsh  of  Columbus  today.  While  there  are  none  of  the  Welsh 
societies  in  Columbus  almost  all  of  the  Welshmen  belong  to 
one  or  another  of  the  fraternal  societies  or  labor  organizations 
in  the  city. 

The  old  time  literary  society  has  been  supplanted  by  a 
Ladies'  Literary  Club,  which  was  organized  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  1909.  Its  object  was 
group  study  in  which  the  young  women  came  together  in  read- 
ing circles  to  study  some  author  or  some  religious  course  such 
as  a  Missionary  field  or  country.  One  meeting  in  the  month 
is  of  a  public  nature  to  which  all  women  are  invited. 

The  Young  Men's  Brotherhood  was  organized  in  1908  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  same  church.  It  is  broad  in  its  scope, 
its  object  being  **to  advance  the  moral,  social,  and  intellectual 
welfare  of  its  members, ' '  its  membership  is  not  confined  to  the 
church.  A  Debating  Club  was  also  organized  about  this  time 
among  young  boys  of  a  High  School  age,  its  membership  being 
elective  and  confined  to  twelve  in  number.  Among  the  middle 
aged  men  there  exists  a  Class  in  Theology  which  meets  weekly 
for  the  discussion  of  theological  questions.  The  membership 
of  this  class  is  also  elective  and  limited  to  twelve  in  number. 
The  church  choir  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  amounts 
to  a  musical  society.  It  is  regularly  organized  with  officers 
and  directors.  The  choir  consists  of  about  60  voices,  and  they 
meet  regularly  every  week  for  rehearsals.  For  the  past  two 
Christmas  seasons  this  choir  has  given  Handel's  Messiah  with 
credit  and  distinction. ^ 

The  two  Welsh  churches  have  their  respective  Ladies'  Aid 
Societies,  and  from  their  accumulations  every  year  they  con- 

1  A  Saint  David's  Society  was  organized  in  Columbus  on  March  3rd  1918 
-when  about  250  Welshmen  met  at  a  dinner  to  celebrate  Saint  David's  Day. 

1  The  Messiah  has  now  been  giTen  for  four  successiTO  seasons,  1909  to 
1912,  with  increasing  success. 


96  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

tribute  to  various  benevolences  in  Columbus,  such  as  the  Child- 
ren's  Aid  Society,  the  Associated  Charities,  City  Missions,  etc. 
They  also  have  a  Missionary  Branch  through  which  they  con- 
tribute to  missions,  both  Home  and  Foreign.  Among  the 
women  there  is  a  local  branch  of  the  Woman  *s  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,  known  as  the  *  *  Cambrian  W.  C.  T.  U. ' '  which 
holds  regular  monthly  meetings.  The  Welsh  of  Columbus 
also  have  an  auxiliary  to  the  American  Bible  Society.  This 
was  organized  in  1853.  The  first  year  after  its  organization 
this  auxiliary  society  contributed  over  $144.00  to  the  American 
Bible  Society.  The  Columbus  auxiliary  society  has  grown 
and  flourished  ever  since  its  organization.  It  has  many  Life 
Members  of  the  American  Bible  Society  and  some  Life  Di- 
rectors. 

MORALITY  AND  TEMPERANCE 

Very  seldom  do  we  hear  of  a  Welshman  being  arrested  for 
any  cause  whatever.  Only  four  or  five  times  in  the  period  of 
three  years  and  a  half  that  the  writer  lived  in  Columbus  was 
the  Welsh  pride  shocked  by  the  announcement  that  one  of 
their  nationality  had  been  arrested.  The  writer  has  never 
heard  of  a  Welsh  child  appearing  in  the  Juvenile  Court  of 
the  city,  and  the  report  of  that  court  for  June  1911  shows  that 
there  were  none  during  the  year  preceding.  A  Welshman 
sentenced  to  the  workhouse  is  seldom  heard  of,  and  a  Welsh 
pauper  is  a  rare  being. 

On  the  question  of  temperance  the  Welsh  society  of  Colum- 
bus has  improved  a  great  deal  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  the  days  of  the  steel  rail  mill  there  were  many  indulgent 
Welshmen  in  Columbus.  Some  of  them  could  be  classed  as 
low  and  given  to  very  excessive  drinking.  In  this  respect  the 
Welsh  have  advanced  greatly.  Welsh  habitual  drunkards 
are  few  in  number.  The  number  of  those  who  dring  intoxi- 
cants is  becoming  smaller  year  by  year.  The  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  for  many  years  has  made  total  abstinence 
a  requisite  for  admission  to  church  membership. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  Vt 

POLITICS 

In  politics  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  are  almost  all  Republi- 
cans though  there  are  exceptions;  a  few  are  Democrats  and 
still  others  are  Prohibitionists.  Since  the  rise  of  the  Anti- 
saloon  movement  many  of  the  Welsh  who  were  Prohibitionists 
have  joined  its  ranks  rather  than  cling  to  the  Prohibition  par- 
ty ;  that  is,  those  of  them  who  are  staunch  supporters  of  tem- 
perance. Party  lines  are  not  so  closely  adhered  to  by  the 
Welsh  of  today  as  they  were  in  former  days ;  and  a  Welshman 
on  a  ticket,  no  matter  which  party,  will  command  the  majority 
of  Welsh  votes. 

CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

There  is  scarcely  a  religious  denomination  in  the  city  of 
Columbus  without  at  least  one  Welshman  in  the  roll  of  its 
members.  Twenty-two  religious  bodies  have  a  total  of  1,118 
Welsh  people  enrolled  in  them  and  of  this  1,118,  512  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  and  75  are  in  the 
Welsh  Congregational  Church.  This  is  not  the  total  member- 
ship of  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church.  These  are  children 
in  the  homes,  children  whose  record  was  given  in  question  15 
and  its  subdivisions  on  the  record-card  whose  classification  is 
not  complete  and  consequently  they  are  not  counted  here  but 
a  record  of  them  is  given  in  the  ** Incomplete  Classification" 
group. ^  The  children,  however,  are  few  in  number  in  the 
Welsh  Congregational  Church,  the  most  of  them  are  grown 
up  children  in  the  homes.  This  church  has  but  very  few 
members  under  18  or  20  years  of  age,  and  at  least  one-half  of 
its  membership  are  foreign  born  Welsh. 

We  have  as  the  result  of  our  canvass  606  persons  who  are 
members  of  churches  other  than  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dist Church  in  Columbus.  And  these  606,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, are  adults  regularly  classified.     Were  we  able  to  give 

1  The  75  mentioned  here  and  elsewhere  in  this  work  do  not  represent  the 
total  membership  of  the  Welsh  Oon^egational  Church.  75  is  the  number  of 
adults  regularly  classified  on  onr  record-cards.  Where  there  were  sons  and 
daughters  in  the  families  they  have  been  recorded  in  the  "Incomplete  Classi- 
fication" group  of  which  there  are  423  children  of  Welsh  parents.  The  total 
membership  of  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church  is  somewhat  over  100,  perhaps 
120. 


98  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

the  church  statistics  for  the  children  under  21  years  of  age 
(as  we  have  done  for  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church)  the 
report  would  show  a  much  larger  number  of  Welsh  persons 
in  the  English  churches  of  Columbus. 

Barring  the  two  Welsh  churches  for  the  moment,  we  have 
531  Welsh  people  who  are  members  of  churches  other  than 
Welsh  in  the  city.  Of  this  531  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  has  the  largest  number,  viz.  181,  or  34  percent  of  all 
the  Welsh  church  members  in  churches  not  Welsh  in  the  city, 
and  16.2  percent  of  the  entire  number  of  church  members 
among  the  Welsh  people  of  the  city.  The  next  in  point  of 
numbers  is  the  Presbyterian  church  with  106  Welsh  people, 
or  20  percent  of  those  not  members  of  the  Welsh  churches, 
and  9.7  percent  of  the  whole  number  of  Welsh  church  mem- 
bers. The  next  is  the  Congregational  Church  with  14.9  per- 
cent of  Welsh  outside  of  Welsh  churches,  or  a  little  over  7 
percent  of  the  whole  number  of  church  members  who  are 
Welsh.  The  next  in  size  is  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church 
with  75  members  regularly  classified,  which  is  a  little  less  than 
13  percent  of  those  in  Welsh  churches,  and  6.7  percent  of  the 
entire  church  membership  here  considered.^  The  Baptist 
Church  has  41  Welsh  people,  or  7.7  percent  of  those  not  in 
Welsh  churches,  and  3.6  percent  of  the  whole  number  of  Welsh 
church  members.  The  Church  of  Christ  has  36  Welshmen  on 
its  roll,  or  6.8  percent  of  those  in  churches  not  Welsh  in  the 
city,  and  3.2  percent  of  the  entire  church  membership  of 
Welsh  people.  The  Episcopal  Church  has  30  Welsh  people 
in  its  roll  of  membership  which  is  5.4  of  Welsh  church  mem- 
bers outside  of  the  Welsh  churches,  or  2.8  percent  of  the  entire 
Welsh  church  membership  here  considered.  The  remaining 
denominations  and  religious  bodies  have  less  than  15  members 
in  each  as  may  be  seen  by  consulting  table  XII. 

i  If  we  had  a  complete  classified  list  of  the  members  of  the  Welsh  Con- 
gregational Church  it  would  have  about  20  percent  of  all  members  in  Welsh 
churches  instead  of  13  as  here  mentioned.  American  readers  may  wonder  why 
we  give  a  separate  account  of  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church  here,  i.  e.  why 
not  include  it  in  the  column  "Congregational"  along  with  all  other  Congrega- 
tional churches  of  the  city.  The  reason  is  that  the  Welsh  Congregational 
Church  is  a  body  separate  and  distinct  from  the  English  Congregational  church. 
It  has  its  own  State  Convention  or  Association  just  as  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
(or  Welsh  Presbyterian)  church  is  a  distinct  organization  from  the  Presbyterian 
body. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  M 

TABLE  XII. 
THE  NUMBER  OF  WELSH  IN  THE  VARIOUS 
CHURCHES 

Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 512 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 181 

Presbyterian  Church 106 

Congregational  Church   79 

Welsh   Congregational   Church 75 

Baptist  Church • 41 

Church  of  Christ 36 

Episcopal  Church 30 

United  Brethren   14 

United  Presbyterian  Church 10 

Catholic  Church 8 

Lutheran  Church    5 

Seventh  Day  Adventists 3 

Universalist  Church   • • 3 

Church  of  God 3 

Salvation  Army • 3 

Latter  Day  Saints 2 

Christian  Science  Church. . .  • • 2 

Spiritualists   2 

Church  of  the  Nazarene • . . .       1 

Reformed  Church  1 

Young  Men  *s  Christian  Association . . .  • •       1 

Total — 1,118  of  whom  512  are  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church,  and  75  of  whom  are  in  the  Welsh  Congregational 
Church. 

As  we  have  intimated  above,  if  our  returns  from  the  gen- 
eral canvass  were  more  complete,  a  much  larger  percent  of  the 
Welsh  of  Columbus  would  be  in  churches  other  than  Welsh 
churches  in  the  city.  In  our  group  designated  **  Incomplete 
Classification,*'  which  dealt  with  question  15  and  its  subdi- 
visions on  the  record-card,  we  have,  806  children  from  mixed 
marriages,  and  423  children  of  Welsh  parents,  not  considered 
at  all  in  the  table  on  Church  Affiliations  given  above.    Were 


100  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


these  groups,  the  total  of  which  is  1,229,  classified  as  to  church 
aflfiliations  there  would  be  revealed  the  fact  that  several  hun- 
dred more  Welsh  people  were  in  churches  other  than  the  Welsh 
churches  of  Columbus,  which  have  not  been  recorded  at  all  in 
this  writing  on  church  relationship  for  the  reason  that  our 
statistics  gave  us  no  aid  on  this  question. 

Tables  XIII.,  XIV.  and  XV.  in  the  appendix,^  give  respect- 
ively, (i)  The  total  number  of  church  members,  (ii)  The  total 
of  those  not  church  members  but  who  attend,  (iii)  The  total 
who  do  not  attend  church.  These  are  given  according  to  their 
status  as  foreign  or  native  bom,  etc.  In  these  tables  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  is  omitted,  the  effort 
here  being  to  learn  the  religious  status  of  the  Welsh  outside 
of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  Columbus.  These 
tables  are  made  up  from  the  regularly  classified  records  of 
our  general  canvass.  By  *' church  members''  here  we  mean 
persons  who  are  directly  indentified  with  some  church  or  other 
as  members.  By  **  those  who  are  not  church  members  but  who 
attend''  we  mean  persons  who  are  not  directly  indentified  with 
any  particular  church  as  members,  but  who  attend  with  more 
or  less  regularity  and  who  gave  the  name  of  the  church  which 
they  attended.  By  *' non-church  goers"  we  mean  (i)  persons 
who  definitely  stated  that  they  attended  no  church  whatever  ^ 
and  (ii)  those  who,  when  asked  about  their  church  attend- 
ance, gave  such  answers  as:  **  seldom,"  **  every  where, "  *^all 
churches,"  **once  in  a  while,"  or  ** nowhere  in  particular," 
in  reply,  and  who  in  no  instance  gave  the  name  of  the  church 
which  they  attended  even  **once  in  a  while."  The  total  of 
these  three  tables  is  1,273  and  concerning  them  the  following 
facts  are  revealed: 

The  first  group,  Table  XIII.,  gives  the  total  of  church 
members  outside  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church.  This 
group  consists  of  606  church  members,  or  47.6  percent  of  the 
entire  1,273  persons  here  considered.  The  second  group, 
Table  XIV.,  gives  the  total  of  church  attendants  who  are  not 


1     See  Appendix  E. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  101 

members.  This  group  consists  of  328  persons,  or  25.7  of  the 
entire  1,273  in  these  tables.  The  third  group,  Table  XV., 
gives  the  total  of  non-church-goers  and  it  consists  of  339  per- 
sons, or  26.7  percent  of  the  entire  number  considered  in  these 
tables.^ 

Reckoned  with  respect  to  their  grouping  as  foreign  and 
native  bom  in  these  three  tables  the  percentages  are  as  follows : 

Of  the  1,273  persons  classified  in  tables  XIII.,  XIV.,  and 
XV.  collectively  269,  or  21.1  percent,  are  foreign  bom;  415, 
or  32.6  percent,  are  native  born  of  foreign  parents;  178,  or 
14  percent,  are  persons  having  one  parent  foreign  and  the 
other  native;  411,  or  32.3  percent,  are  native  bom  of  native 
parents. 

Percentages  according  to  sex  in  these  groups  are  as  indi- 
cated in  table  XVI.  below. 


1     See  Fi^re  5  page  102. 


102 


THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


Figure  5 


^7.6 

Figure  5  is  a  graphic  representation  of  Tables  XII.,  XIII. 
and  XIV.  in  the  appendix.    The  segments  are  as  follows: 

Segment  a.     The  total  of  church  members  as  per  table. 

Segment  b.  The  total  of  church  attendants  who  are  not 
members. 

Segment  c.     The  total  of  non-church-goers. 


WELSH  SOCIAL  STATISTICS  108 

TABLE  XVI. 

Showing  the  relative  number  of  males  and  females  among 
the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  (not  in  the  Calvinistie  Methodist 
Church)  grouped  according  to  their  status  of  Foreign  and 
Native  bom,  and  showing  the  extent  of  church  affiliations  for 
each  group  according  to  sex. 

h 
I    |l    I 

•      Its 


o 


c5  .^2  o«5 

g         ^  B  a  fl  «  -S 

I       g£  S-*^  gg 

•^        St  •"£  5* 


c 


M) 


I.  Percent  of  Males  and  Females.  ^55  55 

Males     58.7  61  59  61.3 

Females    41.3  39  41  38.7 

loo  100  100  100 

II.  Grouped  According  to  Chnirch 

Affiliations. 
Percent  of  Church  Members  in  these 

Groups     55  46  4a4  44.7 

Percent  of  church  attendants,  not 

members    24.2      27  23.4  26.5 

Percent    of    non-church-goers 20.8      27  30.2  28.8 

IlOO  100  100  100 

m.    Church  Affiliation  according  to  sex 
in  these  groups. 

Church   members — Males    47.9  43.2  44  48.4 

Church   members — Females    52.1       56.8  56  51.6 

Too  100  100  100 

Church    attendants— Males    63         67  69.1  58.7 

Church   attendants— Females    37  33  30.9  41.3 

loo  100  100  100 

Non-church-goers— Males     82.2  85.6  74  83.9 

Non-church-goers— Females    17.8  14>.4  26  16.1 

loo  100  100  100 


104  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  percentages  in  table  XVI.,  when  closely  examined,  ex- 
plain themselves.  We  can  readily  see  that  there  is  an  excess 
of  males  as  compared  with  females  in  each  group.  We  have 
attempted  to  explain  the  reason  for  this  in  a  previous  section 
of  this  chapter.  1 

As  we  get  farther  away  from  the  foreign  bom  Welsh  group 
the  percentage  of  church  memberships  decrease.  In  the  col- 
umns on  church  membership  according  to  sex,  the  percent 
for  females  is  larger  than  that  for  males  in  each  group 
notwithstanding  that  the  males  outnumber  the  females  by  a 
large  majority.  Of  those  who  attend  church,  but  who  are  not 
members,  the  percent  for  males  in  each  group  is  in  excess  of 
females.  Likewise  in  the  group  of  non-church-goers  the  per- 
cent for  the  males  is  very  large  while  that  for  females  is  very 
small.  The  inevitable  conclusion  is  that  Welsh  women  are 
better  church  attendants  than  Welsh  men. 

By  way  of  conclusion,  we  may  observe  from  the  facts  pre- 
sented in  this  and  the  preceeding  chapter  that  the  assimilative 
process  is  rapidly  taking  place.  The  Welsh  of  the  city  are 
being  absorbed  by  the  community  and  the  Welsh  traditions 
and  * '  clannishness "  are  breaking  down.  While  the  Welsh 
community  life  centered  about  the  church  at  one  time  almost 
entirely,  the  church  having  refused  to  adjust  itself  to  new  con- 
ditions has  lost  its  hold  on  scores  of  Welsh  in  the  city.  As  a 
consequence  a  large  majority  of  the  Welsh  group  has  given 
away  and  melted  into  the  American  population  in  response  to 
manifold  outside  influences  and  the  lack  of  sufficiently  strong 
common  bonds  to  hold  them  together. 


1      See  page  88. 


CHAPTER  VL 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE 
(The  Vanishing  Welsh) 
Our  discussion  of  the  Process  of  Change  may  be  treated  to 
advantage  by  grouping  our  ideas  under  three  general  topics 
for  consideration,  as  follows:  1.  The  Welsh  conservatism  is 
giving  way  to  a  broader  outlook,  due  to  the  influence  of  en- 
vironment in  general  and  the  consequent  vanishing  of  Welsh 
institutions.  2.  The  linguistic  question — a  change  of  langu- 
age.    3.     The  problem  for  the  church — new  conditions. 

WELSH  CONSERVATISM  IS  GIVING  WAY 
TO  A  BROADER  OUTLOOK 

The  Welsh  mind  is  conservative  and,  generally  speaking, 
unprogressive.  It  accepts  anything  new  with  great  reluct- 
ance. But  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  Welsh 
social  mind  in  recent  years,  no  one  can  doubt.  Extreme  Welsh 
-conservatism  has  given  way  to  a  broader  spirit  in  almost  every 
direction,  and  on  almost  every  question  of  public  concern  and 
^f  private  conduct.  In  the  preceding  chapters,  we  studied 
the  early  Welsh  of  Ohio  as  pioneers  settling  in  their  respective 
communities.  They  preserved  their  Welsh  customs,  habits, 
and  institutions  for  a  long  time  without  being  influenced  to 
any  marked  degree  by  the  American  spirit. 

In  the  case  of  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  colony,  for  example, 
we  studied  a  rural  community  transplanted  from  its  native 
soil  on  the  slopes  of  the  Welsh  mountains  to  the  rugged  hills 
of  Jackson  and  Gallia  Counties  in  southern  Ohio.  There  the 
South walean  from  Cardiganshire  lived  and  labored  and  wor- 
shipped, much  the  same  way  as  he  did  in  his  native  land,  for 
several  decades.  There  were  no  public  conveniences  to  disturb 
his  peace  and  custom.    There  were  no  steam  railways,  inter- 


106  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


urban  lines,  nor  even  public  highways  of  any  account  invading 
the  settlement.  There  were  no  telegraphs,  telephones,  nor 
rural  mail  carriers,  and  even  foreign  mails  were  very  infre- 
quent for  a  long  time.  They  had  but  little  contact  with  the 
outside  world  and  what  contact  they  did  have  was  forced  upon 
them  by  circumstances.  They  preferred  to  live  alone  enjoy- 
ing their  own  society,  customs,  and  religious  exercises,  more 
than  association  with  their  neighbors  of  other  nationalities. 
No  doubt  they  changed  somewhat  without  outside  suggestion 
and  influences,  but  this  form  of  change  was  for  a  long  time 
very  slight  and  we  have  no  means  of  measuring  the  extent  of 
it. 

In  Columbus,  too,  we  found  the  Welsh  community  compact 
and  clustered  about  their  church.  They  were  distinguished 
as  a  group  by  the  names  Welshburg  and  Jonesborough.  They 
talked  and  worshipped  in  their  mother  tongue,  and  they  pre- 
ferred their  own  little  group,  in  a  social  way,  to  mixing  with 
foreigners  in  the  neighborhoods  about  them. 

The  Welsh  people  of  Columbus  today  are  the  descendants 
of  the  early  Welsh  families  who  settled  here  and  the  children 
of  the  early  settlers  of  other  Welsh  communities  in  Ohio,  par- 
ticularly the  Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement.  As  we  study 
present  conditions  in  Columbus  we  are  impressed  with  the 
great  change  which  has  come  to  the  Welsh  social  mind.  It 
has  changed  tremendously  in  recent  years,  and  still  greater 
changes  must  come  in  the  next  decade  or  two  when  those  who 
are  boys  and  girls  today,  and  who  are  thoroughly  Americanized 
in  habit  and  spirit,  will  assume  leadership  and  responsibility 
in  the  homes,  in  the  social  circles,  in  business  relations,  and  in 
the  church. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  introduction  of  the  innocent 
and  helpful  organ  into  the  church  worship  met  with  great  re- 
sistance. Parting  the  hair  was  looked  upon  by  older  people 
at  one  time  as  a  sign  of  too  much  pride.  The  men  combed 
their  hair  straight  down  over  their  foreheads.  But  the  Welsh 
of  today  are  quite  as  modern  in  their  personal  appearance  and 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  107 

as  dashy  in  their  habits  of  dress  as  any  other  respectable  peo- 
ple in  the  community.  To  sing  love  songs  and  **coon  songs*' 
used  to  be  regarded  as  very  unbecoming  to  the  young,  and 
they  were  rebuked  for  it  by  the  elders  of  the  church.  Card 
playing,  dancing,  theatre  going,  billiard  plajdng,  and  bowling 
met  with  wholesale  condemnation  in  former  days;  and  even 
pitching  quoits,  playing  croquet,  and  other  similar  amusements 
by  way  of  recreation,  were  discouraged  in  past  decades.  To- 
day they  are  not  endorsed,  but  are  tolerated  even  by  the  leaders 
of  the  church.  Some  church  members  have  billiard  tables  in 
their  homes,  others  play  cards,  and  many  attend  theatres,  but 
most  of  them  are  particular  in  their  attendance  upon  theatres ; 
they  attend  the  best. 

The  conservatism  of  the  Welsh  church  on  the  linguistic 
question  has  lost  many  of  the  young  people  to  the  Welsh 
church  in  the  past.  But  this  now  is  being  overcome  and  the 
Welsh  young  people  remain  in  their  own  church.  Many  of 
those  who  marry  persons  of  other  nationalities,  instead  of 
leaving  the  Welsh  church  for  some  English  speaking  church, 
persuade  their  partners  to  remain  with  them  in  the  Welsh 
church. 

REGARD  FOR  SUNDAYS  AND  HOLIDAYS 
The  Welsh  people  as  a  people  have  a  sacred  regard  for  the 
Sabbath.  They  observe  the  Lord's  Day.  But  while  they 
keep  the  Sabbath  with  good  and  wholesome  observance,  they 
are  far  from  giving  it  the  strict  puritan  observance  which, 
for  example,  their  forefathers  did  in  the  early  days  in  the 
Jackson  and  Gallia  settlement.  The  strict  avoidance  of 
whistling  on  Sunday,  and  of  walking  to  and  from  church  with 
a  member  of  the  opposite  sex  on  the  part  of  young  people,  or 
of  going  for  a  walk  on  Sunday,  is  no  longer  required;  such 
things,  which  were  not  tolerated  at  one  time  in  Welsh  circles, 
are  today  common. 

Some  holidays  are  strictly  observed.  Chief  among  these 
is  Thanksgiving  Day.  Thanksgiving  Day  is  held  in  great  es- 
teem by  the  Welsh  of  Celumbus.     The  writer  has  heard  a 


108  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

prominent  member  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  re- 
mark thus:  *'I  regard  Thanksgiving  Day  as  just  as  sacred 
as  Sunday. ' '  Scores  of  others  would  reiterate  that  statement. 
In  the  Calyinistic  Methodist  Church  there  are  three  meetings 
held  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  this  is  true  of  almost  all  other 
Welsh  churches.  The  order  of  services  on  Thanksgiving  Day 
is  as  follows :  At  10 :00  a.  m.  a  Welsh  prayer  meeting ;  2 :00 
p.  m.  a  general  fellowship  meeting ;  7 :30  p.  m.  a  prayer  meet- 
ing under  the  auspices  of  the  young  people's  societies.  The 
service  best  attended  is  the  afternoon  service  when  all,  both 
younger  children  and  older  people,  attend  if  the  weather  is 
favorable.  But  the  morning  and  evening  services  are  well 
attended  also.  It  is  regarded  as  out  of  place  for  a  young  man 
to  attend  a  foot  ball  game  on  Thanksgiving  afternoon,  even 
though  he  attended  church  both  morning  and  evening. 

Other  holidays  have  been  given  no  unusual  attention  by 
the  Welsh.  Christmas  has  not  been  observed  with  any  very 
special  functions  until  recent  years.  Of  late  Christmas  exer- 
cises have  been  held  for  the  children  of  the  Sunday  School. 
Easter  has  had  no  special  observance  until  very  recently,  ex- 
cept by  way  of  eating  an  unusual  number  of  eggs  on  that  day. 
The  Welsh  Eisteddfod  is  often  held  on  either  Christmas  or 
New  Year's  Day,  and  a  Welsh  picnic  is  held  on  the  Fourth  of 
July. 

THE  LINGUISTIC  QUESTION 

The  question  of  language  has  had  a  great  influence  in 
changing  the  social  thinking  of  the  Welsh  of  Columbus.  One 
of  the  stanzas  of  the  Welsh  National  Air  breathes  the  senti- 
ment that  ''If  the  enemy  has  ravished  the  Land  of  Wales,  the 
Language  of  Wales  is  as  living  as  ever."  C'Os  treisiodd  y 
gelyn  fy  Ngwlad  dan  ei  droed,  mae  Hen  laith  y  Cymry  mor 
fyw  ag  erioed.")  However  true  that  statement  may  be  of 
Wales  today,  the  truth  about  the  Welsh  who  emigrated  to 
America  is  that  they  have  found  a  new  home  in  a  good  land, 
but  they  are  losing  their  mother  tongue,  the  language  of 
Wales. 


THE  PB0CE8S  OP  CHANGE  109 

Welsh  communities  in  America  have  made  a  brave  fight  to 
preserve  the  language  of  their  fatherland,  which  is  so  dear 
to  them.  But  like  every  other  language  spoken  by  foreigners 
who  come  to  our  shores,  the  Welsh  must  give  way  before  the 
dominant  power  of  the  English.  The  longevity  of  the  Welsh 
language  varies  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  community, 
its  geographical  position,  the  proportion  of  Welsh  in  the  com- 
munity, and  the  degree  of  migration  from  Wales  into  the  com- 
munity. Welsh  settlements  and  Welsh  characteristics  will, 
in  the  future,  be  shorter  lived  in  America  than  they  have  been 
in  the  past.  Our  reason  for  this  belief  is  that  modern  con- 
veniences in  America  today  disturb  the  exclusiveness  and  the 
clannish  tendencies  of  any  people,  or  group  of  people,  who 
come  to  our  shores.  Steam  railways,  electric  railways,  tele- 
graphs, telephones,  rural  mails  and  daily  papers,  and  a 
thousand  other  modern  improvemnts  and  conveniences 
disturb  the  exclusiveness  of  any  community  or  clan,  and  be- 
fore the  power  of  the  English  language  in  the  commercial 
world  of  America  every  other  tongue  must  be  silent. 

The  average  period  of  persistence  of  the  Welsh  language 
in  Welsh  communities  is  about  three  generations  or  about  80 
years;  sometimes  more,  and  frequently  less.  Concerning  the 
Welsh  settlements  briefly  studied  in  the  second  chapter,  the 
following  may  be  stated  regarding  the  longevity  of  the  Welsh 
language  in  them.  Paddy's  Run,  settled  over  a  hundred  years 
ago  passed  through  its  most  flourishing  period  in  the  '30s  and 
'40s.  At  present  there  are  only  four  old  settlers^  in  Paddy's 
Run  who  can  speak  the  Welsh  language.  In  the  Welsh  Hills 
in  Licking  County,  there  are  less  than  a  dozen  people  who  can 
speak  Welsh.  In  the  towns  of  Granville  and  Newark,  several 
Welsh  speaking  people  may  be  found.  In  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  settlement,^  the  strongest  and  best  organized  Welsh 
settlement  in  America  in  her  balmy  days,  and  the  best  fortified 
by  natural  environment  against  extraneous  influences,  the 
Welsh  language  is  rapidly  vanishing  and  is  being  supplanted 

1  Two  of  these  are  over  90  years  old. 

2  First  18  settlers  came  there  in  1818,  but  the  real  growth  of  the  tettle- 
ment  began  in  1884. 


110  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

by  English  even  in  the  church  services.  About  one-third  of 
the  preaching  done  in  the  settlement  is  in  English,  perhaps 
more.  About  two-thirds  of  the  Sunday  School  classes  in  the 
churches  are  conducted  in  the  English  language.  Gomer  in 
Allen  County,  settled  in  1838,  is  rapidly  changing  its  com- 
plexion linguistically.  Half  of  the  preaching  services  are  in 
English  and  more  than  half  of  the  Sunday  School  classes  are 
carried  on  in  that  tongue.  Venedocia  in  Vanwert  County, 
settled  in  1848,  is  gradually  coming  to  recognize  the  need  of 
English  in  the  church.  Venedocia  is  the  latest  of  the  large 
settlements,  here  considered,  to  be  established  and  therefore 
the  last  to  show  signs  of  the  decline  of  the  Welsh  language. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  signs  were  evident  long  ago,  but  they 
were  not  discerned  by  the  leaders  in  the  Welsh  church.  A 
Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  Venedocia  some  12 
years  ago  by  the  Lima  Presbytery  and  its  services  are  con- 
ducted in  English.  The  Welsh  people  in  Venedocia  should 
have  organized  that  church  under  the  auspices  of  the  Calvin- 
istic  Methodist  denomination.  They  failed  to  do  this.  The 
result  is  that  he  Welsh  Church  of  Venedocia  in  the  past  10 
or  12  years  has  gradually  decreased,  while  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  consists  very  largely  of  younger  Welsh  Ameri- 
cans, has  grown  during  the  same  period  from  a  small  mission 
church  to  a  church  with  a  membership  of  about  120.  The 
Sugar  Creek  Church  in  Putnam  County  became  extinct  as  a 
Welsh  church,  and  for  a  number  of  years  no  service  was  held 
there.  In  recent  years  this  church  has  been  reorganized  by 
the  Calvinistic  Methodists  as  an  English  church,  and  the  work 
there  is  now  growing.  The  Radnor  settlement,  in  Delaware 
County,  once  a  flourishing  Welsh  community  is  now  entirely 
English  in  society  and  church.  But  the  inhabitants  of  the 
community  are  almost  all  people  of  Welsh  blood,  being  the 
descendants  of  the  early  Welsh  settlers  who  came  to  Radnor  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

With  this  brief  resume  of  the  linguistic  conditions  of  the 
older  Welsh  settlements  of  Ohio,  which  supply  Columbus  with 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  111 

much  of  its  Welsh  population  today,  let  us  now  give  attention 
to  the  linguistic  condition  among  the  Welsh  of  Columbus. 

First,  the  linguistic  condition  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist, 
Church.  The  Welsh  church  is  the  gTeS"'c6nsefver'oi  Welsn 
forces,  linguistic  and  otherwise.  The  Welsh  church  is  the  last 
place  to  give  up  the  Welsh  language.  When  every  other 
branch  of  social  activity  and  every  social  circle,  including  the 
home,  has  ceased  to  use  the  Welsh  language  the  Church  de- 
mands it  in  public  worship,  even  though  every  sign  points  to 
the  need  of  a  change.  The  main  reason  for  this  condition  is 
that  the  older  people  cling  to  their  mother  tongue  from  senti- 
ment, and  the  older  people  control  in  church  affairs.  They 
cling  to  the  Welsh  not  that  they  do  not  understand  the  Eng- 
lish, but  because  they  prefer  the  Welsh.  The  older  people  do 
understand  English,  but  scores  of  their  children  do  not  un- 
derstand Welsh.  The  Welsh  language  is  losing,  and  it  must 
lose  more  and  more  in  Columbus,  as  in  other  communities,  as 
the  process  of  Americanization  of  the  children  in  Welsh  homes 
is  increasing,  and  as  the  practical  cessation  of  immigration 
from  Wales  continues. 

In  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  of  Columbus  there 
are  51  infants  of  five  years  and  under.  Of  these  51  infants, 
6  are  able  to  speak  Welsh.  They  speak  the  language  well  for 
children  five  years  of  age.  In  the  next  age  group,  children 
from  6  to  10  years  of  age,  there  are  50,  and  4  of  these  may  be 
said  to  speak  Welsh  fairly  well.  In  the  next  age  group,  11 
to  15,  there  are  52,  and  3  of  these  can  speak  Welsh.  In  the 
next  age  group,  youths  16  to  20  years  of  age,  there  are  59,  and 
13  of  these  are  able  to  speak  the  Welsh  language.  Of  adults 
over  21  years  of  age  in  the  church,  there  are  39  persons  of 
pure  Welsh  blood  who  cannot  speak  Welsh,  besides  the  mem- 
bers who  are  not  of  Welsh  blood  and  who  cannot  understand 
the  language. 

We  have  this  interesting  linguistic  condition  among  the 
children  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  viz.  there  are 
more  children,  and  a  larger  percent  of  the  children,  of  five 


112  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

years  old  and  under  who  can  speak  the  Welsh  language  than 
there  are  in  the  next  two  age  groups,  viz.  those  between  the 
ages  of  six  and  ten,  and  eleven  and  fifteen,  respectively.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  some  Welsh  parents  are  faithful  to 
teach  Welsh  to  their  young  children  in  the  home,  but  as  soon 
as  they  go  to  the  public  schools  and  begin  to  associate  with 
other  children,  they  pick  up  English  and  in  a  short  time  they 
refuse  to  express  themselves  in  Welsh  even  at  home,  and  not 
long  thereafter  they  cannot  talk  Welsh  at  all. 

There  are  212  children  under  21  years  of  age  in  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodist  Church  and  society  and  only  26,  or  12.7 
percent,  of  them  are  able  to  intelligently  use  the  Welsh  langu- 
age. It  may  here  be  urged  that  almost  one-fourth  of  this  212 
are  infants  under  five  years  of  age,  many  of  whom  are  unable 
to  speak  any  language  as  yet.  That  is  true,  but  the  fact  still 
remains  that  a  larger  percent  of  this  age-group  can  speak 
Welsh  than  of  the  next  two  age-groups  respectively;  all  of 
which  means  that  when  these  children,  now  under  five  years 
of  age,  come  to  the  age-groups  of  6  to  10  and  11  to  15  respect- 
ively, a  smaller  percent  of  them  will  be  able  to  speak  the  Welsh 
language  than  at  present. 

The  percentages  in  the  age-groups  run  as  follows :  Of  the 
total  under  21  years  of  age,  12.7  percent  speak  Welsh.  Age- 
group  under  five  years  of  age,  11.7  percent  speak  Welsh;  in 
the  age-group  11  to  15  years,  5.8  percent  speak  Welsh ;  in  the 
age-group  16  to  20  years,  22  percent  are  able  to  speak  Welsh. 
Of  those  over  21  years  of  age,  there  are  39  persons  of  pure 
Welsh  blood,  or  8.5  percent  of  those  over  21  years  old,  who 
cannot  speak  the  Welsh  language.  The  group  of  212  children 
and  youths  under  21  years  old,  87.3  percent  of  whom  cannot 
speak  Welsh,  are,  for  the  most  part,  children  of  Welsh  parents 
who  have  come  to  Columbus  from  the  Jackson  and  Gallia 
settlement  in  the  past  25  years.  There  are  but  very  few  of 
the  descendants  of  the  old  original  Welsh  families  of  Colum- 
bus in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  at  present.     Most  of 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  113 

these  have  left  the  Welsh  church  and  are  identified  with  Eng- 
lish churches  in  the  city. 

When  we  come  to  study  the  linguistic  situation  among  the 
Welsh  of  Columbus  outside  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Church  and 
society,  conditions  are  still  more  striking,  as  may  well  be  ex- 
pected, even  though  the  members  of  the  Welsh  Congregational 
Church  are  reckoned  in  this  group. 

Of  the  entire  1,273  persons  regularly  classified  in  the  Gen- 
eral Canvass  of  the  Welsh  people  of  the  city  359,  or  28.2  per- 
cent, speak  the  Welsh  language. ^  And  these  are  distributed 
as  to  classification  of  foreign  and  native  born  as  follows: 
There  are  269  foreign  born  Welsh,  and  of  this  total  161,  or  a 
little  less  than  60  percent,  speak  Welsh.  The  total  number 
of  native  born  of  foreign  parents  is  415 ;  of  this  number  130, 
or  31.3  percent,  speak  Welsh.  The  total  number  of  native 
born  having  one  of  the  parents  foreign  and  the  other  native, 
is  178;  of  these  23,  or  a  trifle  less  than  13  percent,  speak 
Welsh.  The  total  number  of  native  bom  of  native  parents  is 
411 ;  45  of  these,  or  10.9  percent,  speak  the  Welsh  language. 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  percentages  that  as  we  get 
farther  away  from  the  foreign  born  Welsh  the  knowledge  of 
the  Welsh  language  decreases.  This  is  to  be  expected,  but 
the  percentage  of  each  group  is  interesting  nevertheless,  if  not 
surprising.  As  Americanization  takes  place  the  knowledge  of 
Welsh  diminishes.  The  groups,  beginning  with  the  foreign 
born  Welsh,  show  the  percents  to  diminish  as  follows:  (i) 
59.8  percent;  (ii)  31.3  percent;  (iii)  12.9  percent;  (iv)  10.9 
percent,  respectively.^ 

With  such  a  condition  present,  and  with  practically  no 
direct  immigration  from  Wales,  and  with  rapid  linguistic 
changes  going  on  in  the  communities  which  have  served  as 
** feeders''  for  Columbus  in  the  last  25  years,  and  which  still 
continue  to  supply  Columbus  with  Welsh  people,  it  is  safe  to 
predict  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Welsh  lan- 
guage will  be  extinct  in  Columbus,  or  at  least  dropped  from  use 

1  See  Figure  6  on  page  114. 

2  See  Figure  7  on  page  115.  ,   . 


lU 


THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


Figure  6 


Figure  6  is  a  graphic  representation  of  linguistic  condi- 
tion stated  on  page  113.     The  segments  are  as  follows: 

Segment  a.  Total  of  those  who  cannot  speak  the  Welsh 
language. 

Segment  b.    Total  of  those  who  can  speak  Welsh. 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE 

Figure  7 


115 


CD 


40.3i 


CZD 


01^ 

on 


Figure  7,  in  four  parts,  is  a  graphic  representation  of  the 
linguistic  conditions  as  analyzed  on  page  113. 
The  circles  are  as  follows: 

1.  Linguistic  condition  among  the  foreign  horn  Welsh. 

2.  Linguistic  condition  among  the  native  bom  of  foreign 
parents. 

3.  Linguistic  condition  among  the  native  bom  having  one 
foreign  and  one  native  parent. 

4.  Linguistic  condition  among  the  native  born  of  native 
parents. 

The  segments  in  each  circle  are  as  follows? 
Segment  a.     Total  who  cannot  speak  Welsh. 
Segment  b.     Total  who  speak  Welsh. 


116  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

even  in  the  Welsh  church.  Were  we  able  to  give  linguistic 
conditions  regarding  the  423  children  of  Welsh  parents,  and 
the  806  children  of  mixed  marriages,  one  of  whose  parents 
was  Welsh,  the  statistics  on  the  vanishing  of  the  Welsh 
language  would  be  even  more  striking  than  the  above  figures 
show. 

CHARACTERISTIC  WELSH  INSTITUTIONS  WANING 

There  are  Welsh  organizations  and  societies  in  many  com- 
munities where  the  Welsh  are  organized  as  a  people.  Colum- 
bus today  has  none  of  these.  Such  organizations  as  the 
Cymrodorion  Society,  the  Ivorite  Society,  Saint  David's  Soci- 
ety, etc.  are  found  in  many  Welsh  communities,  especially  in 
the  cities.  Some  cities  much  larger  than  Columbus  have  them, 
such  as  New  York,  Philadelphia,  etc.,  and  some  cities  much 
smaller  than  Columbus,  and  which  have  a  much  smaller  Welsh 
population  than  Columbus,  also  have  them.  But  no  such  or- 
ganizations exist  in  Columbus.  Even  the  Cambrian  Musical 
Club,  consisting  of  about  40  male  voices,  which  was  organized 
about  six  years  ago,  was  abandoned  in  1910.  The  Eisteddfod 
which  is  a  characteristic  Welsh  institution  is  held  occasionally, 
but  this  has  no  permanent  elements.  It  is  formed  from  an 
impulse  on  the  part  of  a  few  persons  and  a  temporary  organi- 
zation is  formed  to  carry  out  the  Eisteddfod  plans  for  the 
season.  After  the  Eisteddfod  takes  place  the  organization 
dissolves,  as  a  rule. 

The  reason  for  the  absence  of  characteristic  Welsh  institu- 
tions among  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  is  difficult  to  state.  The 
language  does  not  play  a  very  important  part  here.  For,  in 
many  cities,  flourishing  Welsh  societies  are  maintained  where 
the  Welsh  speaking  population  is  small.  The  only  character- 
istic Welsh  institutions  in  Columbus  are  those  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Welsh  church.  Perhaps  the  great  Welsh  or- 
ganizations are  formed,  in  cities  where  they  exist,  after  the 
Welsh  church  has  proven  insufficient  to  the  task  of  holding 
together  the  great  mass  of  influential  Welsh  people  in  the  city. 
At  any  rate,  the  condition  in  Columbus  at  present  is  that  of 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  117 

a  strong  Welsh  church  with  no  other  Welsh  societies  besides 
those  maintained  under  the  auspices  of  the  church. ^  Another 
reason  which  may  be  assigned  for  the  absence  of  these  Welsh 
institutions  is  that  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  are  absorbed  with 
other  societies  and  organizations  in  a  social  way.  The  men 
belong  to  various  fraternal  societies  and  labor  organizations 
in  the  city,  which  occupy  their  time  and  attention;  and  the 
women  have  joined  clubs  for  women  in  the  city.  Granted  that 
this  be  one  of  the  causes  for  the  absence  of  Welsh  institutions, 
we  again  see  the  change  which  has  come  into  the  Welsh  society 
through  association  with  other  peoples  in  a  mixed  community. 
Welsh  ideals  and  institutions  are  vanishing,  and  the  Welsh  of 
Columbus  are  identifying  themselves  with  institutions  which 
are  common  to  Americans.  The  old  societies  once  cherished 
by  the  Welsh  are  giving  way  to  American  institutions. 

Revivals  among  the  Welsh. — Revivals  are  not  peculiar  to 
the  Welsh  people,  but  a  Welsh  religious  revival  is  unique. 
The  revivals  of  Wales  are  such  as  possess  the  whole  nation. 


1  The  organization  of  the  St.  David's  Society  in  Columbus  in  March  1913 
may  suggest  the  fact  that  the  Welsh  church  in  Columbus  is  now  approaching 
the  point  where  it  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  holding  together  the  many  in- 
fluential Welsh  of  the  city.  Be  that  as  it  may.  The  Welsh  of  Columbus  are 
now  agitating  the  organization  of  a  "Welsh  Social  Center."  Such  an  organi- 
zation may  doubtless  have  its  advantages  to  the  Welsh  of  the  city  at  large,  but 
it  will  be  a  disadvantage  to  the  Welsh  church.  About  four  years  ago,  (1909), 
the  Welsh  C.  M.  Church  considered  erecting  a  new  church  edifice  which  would 
accommodate  social  aspects  of  work,  commonly  known  as  "the  institutional 
church"  work,  making  provision  for  social  rooms  and  reading  rooms  for  the 
scores  of  young  Welsh  men  and  women  who  are  in  the  city,  many  of  whom 
have  come  from  country  homes  and  are  living  in  rooming  houses  in  Columbus. 
The  measure  failed  to  carry  four  years  ago.  Now  the  question  of  a  new  church 
has  been  revived,  and  likewise  the  question  of  a  social  gathering  place,  but 
now  it  comes  up  as  a  double-header,  viz.  a  new  church  and  a  Welsh  social 
center,  as  two  separate  institutions  The  church,  in  December  1913,  decided  to 
erect  a  new  edifice,  and  the  Welsh  of  the  city  are  planning  a  '  'Welsh  social 
center."  (See  Preliminary  Program  of  Columbus  Eisteddfod  announcement  for 
January  1,  1913.) 

A  "social  center,"  as  such,  could  not  well  be  carried  on  under  the  auspices 
of  a  church,  for  it  wants  to  be  free  from  sectarianism  and  racial  lines.  It  is 
the  same  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  the  same  to  Cotholic  and  Protestant.  It  must  be 
in  a  public  place — at  the  public  school  building  where  "all  paths  meet."  But 
when  the  Welsh  social  center  is  considered,  the  ordinary  objections  to  its  being 
associated  with  the  church  do  not  hold. 

The  Welsh  have  always  regarded  the  church  as  their  rallying  place.  The 
church  has  always  been  the  Welshman's  social  center.  The  result  of  a  "Welsh 
social  center' '  apart  from  the  church  in  Columbus  will  be  detrimental  to  the 
Welsh  church,  especially  with  its  present  insistance  on  more  Welsh  speaking  in 
the  church  than  the  conditions  warrant.  The  result  will  be  that  the  young 
will  go  to  the  social  center  for  their  Welsh  social  life,  where  they  can  mingle 
with  their  own  nationality,  for  the  Welsh  are  clannish,  and  they  will  go  to  an 
English  church  for  their  religious  exercises.  So  between  the  Welsh  social 
center  and  the  lack  of  sufficient  English  in  the  Welsh  church  the  Welsh  church 
will  more  and  more  lose  its  control  over  the  Welsh  population  of  the  city. 


118  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

During  a  Welsh  revival,  the  whole  nation  is  stirred  by  a  re- 
ligious awakening  and  upheaval.  The  Welsh  communities  in 
America  have  experienced  such  religious  awakenings  in 
pioneer  days.  Such  a  revival  started  in  America  in  1858.  It 
swept  through  Welsh  communities  in  the  United  States  and 
the  fire  of  the  revival  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  the  person  of  its 
leader,^  and  it  stirred  all  Wales. 

A  similar  revival  shook  Wales  in  1904-1905  when  the  whole 
nation  was  ablaze  with  the  heat  of  it.  The  revival  was  led  by 
a  young  man  26  years  of  age,  and  it  resulted  in  over  80,000 
conversions.  Such  a  revival  may  visit  Wales  again,  but  it  is 
very  unlikely  that  the  Welsh  in  America  will  ever  experience 
a  revival  similar  to  that  of  1859,  and  such  as  swept  over  Wales 
in  1904  and  1905.  In  1905-06,  an  effort  towards  a  revival  of 
the  Welsh  type  was  made  in  many  Welsh  communities  in 
America.  In  some  instances  the  people  were  somewhat 
awakened  but  nothing  of  an  unusual  nature  resulted  from  the 
effort.  Some  of  the  revival  singers  came  from  Wales  to 
America,  Two  young  men  visited  Columbus;  good  meetings 
were  held,  but  nothing  of  any  consequence  was  known  to  fol- 
low their  work. 

Our  reasons  for  believing  that  the  Welsh  in  America  may 
never  again  experience  the  old-time  Welsh  revivals  are:  (i) 
The  Welshman  has  lived  in  America  too  long  and  he  has  be- 
come Americanized,  and  has  lost  through  association  and  as- 
similiation  a  great  deal  of  his  highly  emotional  qualities  and 
his  vividness  of  imagination,  (ii)  He  is  far  removed  from 
the  superstitions  which  once  possessed  the  people  in  the 
Fatherland,  and  he  is  educated  to  the  extent  that  he  has  over- 
come much  of  the  superstitious  in  him;  and  this  has  affected 
his  temperament.^  (iii)  The  waning  of  the  Welsh  language 
will  also  have  its  effects  upon  the  revival  spirit  among  the 
Welsh  in  this  country,  (iv)  The  manner  of  Welsh  preach- 
ing has  changed.     Welsh  preaching  is  not  so  highly  exciting 

1  See  Diwygiadau  Crefyddol  Cymru,  p.  404. 

2  Let  the  reader  not  assume  or  conclude  that  the  writer  regards  super- 
stition and  revival  as  identical  for  he  does  not,  but  that  a  superstitious  nature 
is  an  easy  target  for  certain  forms  of  revival  appeals  is  beyond  question. 


THE  PB0CES8  OP  CHANGE  119 

as  it  once  was,  and  the  Welsh  clergy  indulge  less  in  realisms 
in  their  discourses.  This  form  of  preaching  in  the  past  has 
had  a  great  deal  of  influence  upon  the  highly  imaginative 
Welshman,  or  Celt.  For  these  reasons  we  believe  that  the  old- 
time  Welsh  revivals  are  not  likely  to  visit  the  Welsh  in  Ameri- 
ca in  the  future. 

THE  PROBLEM  FOR  THE  CHURCH— NEW 
CONDITIONS 

The  Problem  for  the  Welsh  Church  in  America  is  closely 
linked  with  the  Linguistic  Question.  Conditions  being  as  they 
are,  the  problem  for  the  church  cannot  be  fairly  discussed 
apart  fi'om  the  question  of  the  Welsh  language, — and  the 
Welsh  language,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  is  a  vanishing  quan- 
tity.^ The  Welsh  people,  generally  speaking,  are  regarded  as 
religious  and  very  devoted  to  the  church.  To  what  extent 
this  reputation  for  religion  given  the  Welsh  is  due  to  their 
natural  make-up,  and  how  much  of  it  is  traditional,  is  difficult 
to  state.  If  the  Welshman  is  religiously  inclined  by  constitu- 
tion, apart  from  tradition,  language,  and  castoms,  we  would 
expect  to  find  the  full  blood  Welshman  just  as  religious  aftei 
he  has  forgotten  the  Welsh  language  as  he  was  before. 

The  Calvinistic  Methodist  denomination,  which  is  by  far 
the  best  organized  and  strongest  Welsh  church  in  America 
today,  has  never  conceived  of  giving  the  gospel  to  any  com- 
munity in  America,  except  to  communities  where  there  are 
Welsh-speaking  people.  The  writer  knows  of  not  a  single 
church  organized,  nor  a  mission  maintained,  by  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States,  except  where  there 
are  Welsh  speaking  Welshmen.  In  a  few  instances,  in  recent 
years,  churches  which  had  gone  do^vn  as  Welsh  churches  have 
been  resurrected  by  the  denomination  as  churches  in  which 
the  English  language  is  to  be  used  for  worship.    The  Sugar 

1  See  "Y  Cyfaill"  for  November  1911,  the  address  of  the  late  Rev. 
Daniel  Thomas  M.  A.,  as  resigning  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States,  at  Cotter,  low*, 
August  1911.  In  this  address,  or  sermon,  Mr.  Thomas  declares  that  the  C.  M. 
denomination  is  now  passing  through  a  crisis.  Two  important  considerations 
he  presents,  viz.  (i)  The  denomination  in  relation  to  language  in  its  churches, 
(ii)  in  relation  to  its  future  existence.  He  declares  that  three-fourths  of 
those  who  leave  the  church  do  so  for  linguistic  reasons. 


120  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Creek  Church  in  Putnam  county  is  one  such  church.  But  in 
no  instance,  known  to  the  writer,  has  a  church  been  organized 
or  a  mission  maintained  in  any  community  which  was  not 
Welsh.  It  is  thus  fair  to  conclude  that  the  Calvinistic  IMetho- 
dist  Church  in  the  United  States  conceives  its  function  to  be 
to  serve  people  of  the  Welsh  nationality  only.  That  is  to  say, 
it  is  a  church  for  Welshmen  in  the  United  States. 

If  this  conclusion,  dra^vn  from  observation  of  what  seems 
to  be  the  policy  of  the  denomination — or  at  least  its  practice — 
is  correct,  the  next  question  forced  upon  us  for  consideration 
is:  Does  the  Welsh  church  in  America  meet  the  religious 
needs  of  the  Welsh  community  ?  In  order  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion we  must  ask  ourselves.  What  is  a  Welshman?  Are  they 
Welsh  w^ho  are  born  in  Wales  and  who  can  speak  the  Welsh 
language?     The  answer  assuredly  is  **Yes.*' 

Are  they  Welsh  who  are  bom  in  Wales  and  of  Welsh  par- 
ents, but  who  cannot  speak  the  Welsh  language?  Are  the 
native  born  of  foreign  Welsh  parents,  and  who  can  speak  the 
Welsh  language,  to  be  regarded  as  Welsh?  Are  the  native 
born  of  foreign  Welsh  parents,  and  ^vho  cannot  speak  the 
Welsh  language,  to  be  regarded  as  Welsh?  Are  native  born 
children  of  native  born  parents  who  can  speak  the  Welsh 
language  to  be  considered  as  Welsh  ?  Are  native  born  childr- 
ren  of  native  born  parents  of  pure  Welsh  blood  ^vho  cannot 
speak  the  Welsh  language  to  be  regarded  as  Welsh?  Our 
question  is.  What  constitutes  a  Welshman?  Is  he  a  Welsh- 
man, who  is  born  in  America  and  w^hose  parents  are  American 
born,  when  neither  he  nor  his  parents  can  speak  the  Welsh 
language,  but  in  whose  veins  everj^  drop  of  blood  comes  from 
a  pure  Welsh  ancestry  ?  If  the  Welsh  church  in  America  con- 
siders its  functions  to  be  to  serve  only  the  Welsh  speaking  of 
the  Welsh  people  in  the  United  States,  it  fails  to  meet  the  re- 
ligious needs  of  the  large  majority  of  the  Welsh  nationality 
in  America.  Then  what  of  the  child  of  the  mixed  marriage, 
one  of  whose  parents  is  Welsh?  Who  is  responsible  for  his 
religious  instruction  and  training?     If  the  Welsh  church  seeks 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  121 

only  to  minister  to  those  Welshmen  who  speak  the  Welsh 
language,  it  falls  far  short  of  providing  for  its  own  nationality 
in  this  country.  It  serves  only  that  portion  of  the  Welsh 
people  who  can  receive  religious  instruction  through  the  medi- 
um of  the  Welsh  language. 

With  these  questions  in  mind,  let  us  turn  our  attention  to 
the  statistics  on  the  Welsh  of  Columbus,  and  study  existing 
conditions  with  respect  to  church  affiliations  among  them. 

Table  XII.,  on  church  affiliations,  shows  a  total  of  1,118 
church  members.^  Of  this  total  512  are  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church.  The  remaining  606  are  from  the  General 
Canvass  in  the  city  at  large.  The  512  membei*s  of  the  Calvin- 
istic Methodist  Church,  here  counted,  include  the  children  of 
that  church  over  12  years  of  age  who  have  been  admitted  into 
full  church  membership.  The  remaining  606  are  only  the 
adults  regularly  classified  in  the  general  canvass.  Were  the 
423  children  of  Welsh  parents  and  the  806  children  of  mixed 
parents  (not  classified  as  to  church  affiliation)  added  here  the 
number  of  Welsh  and  half -Welsh  in  churches  other  than  Welsh 
churches  in  Columbus  would  be  much  larger.  But  our  con- 
clusions must  be  drawn  from  materials  at  our  disposal. 
Among  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  besides  those  in  the  two  Welsh 
churches,  as  the  table  shows,  there  are  Welsh  people  distributed 
among  twenty  other  religious  bodies,  and  one  man  insisted 
that  Socialism  was  his  religion. 

Prom  the  array  of  church  membership  in  table  XII.,  we 
can  see  how  scattered  are  the  Welsh  of  Columbus  regarding 
their  religious  tendencies  and  church  affiliations.  The  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  has  more  Welsh  members  than  any 
other  denomination  in  the  city,  barring  the  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dist Church.  It  has  181  Welsh  people  in  its  ranks  in  the  city. 
There  may  be  several  reasons  assigned  for  this:  (i)  A  few 
may  have  been  Welsh  Wesleyans,  and  therefore  naturally  went 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  (ii)  The  spirit  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  appeals  to  the  Welsh  tempera- 
ment.    The  ^lethodist  Episcopal  Church  is  often  called  the 

i     See  Table  page  99. 


122  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

church  of  the  people,  i.  e.  of  the  masses ;  that  fact  would  appeal 
to  a  large  number  of  Welsh  people,  (iii)  The  Methodist 
** class-meeting''  comes  closer  to  the  Calvinistic  ''fellowship 
meeting''  than  any  other  church  institution  in  any  other  de- 
nomination known  to  the  writer,  (iv)  The  Calvinistic 
Methodists,  when  speaking  of  their  church,  call  it  ''Methodist" 
for  brevity,  just  as  the  Methodist  Episcopalians  call  their 
church  "Methodist"  for  the  same  reason.  This  coincidence 
of  names  has  attracted  many  a  Calvinistic  Methodist  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church.  A  Calvinistic  Methodist,  on 
leaving  his  old  home  church  and  going  to  a  town  where  there 
were  different  denominations,  if  he  identified  himself  with 
any  English  church,  frequently  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  instead  of  going  to  a  Presbyterian  Church 
which  would  have  been  practically  equivalent  to  his  own  Cal- 
vinistic Methodist  Church,  except  for  the  language.  The  wri- 
ter's attention  was  called  to  this  fact  by  one  who  had  been  a 
resident  of  Jackson  County  from  childhood  until  recent 
years.  He  stated  that  scores,  who  had  gone  from  that  Welsh 
settlement,  entered  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  just 
that  way,  being  misled  by  the  name  * '  Methodist. ' '  It  was  only 
a  few  weeks  after  this  conversation  with  the  friend  from  Jack- 
son that  the  writer  found  an  illustration  of  this  very  thing. 
A  man,  who  had  been  a  member  all  his  life,  up  to  that  time, 
in  a  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church,  had  moved  to  town  and  had 
identified  himself  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
When  asked  by  the  w^riter  w^hy  he  did  not  go  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  his  immediate  and  direct  reply,  and  that  almost 
in  the  spirit  of  a  retort,  was,  "Why  should  a  Methodist  go  to 
a  Presbyterian  Church?"  The  percent  of  Welsh  in  the  other 
churches  in  the  city  may  be  seen  by  consulting  the  table. 

The  important  question  for  the  Welsh  church  in  America 
with  its  heretofore  strict  allegiance  to  the  Welsh  language  is 
the  problem  of  the  unchurched  Welsh  in  our  cities,  and  the 
abandoned  Welsh  churches  in  our  rural  communities.  Of  the 
1,273  persons  regularly  classified  in  our  general  canvass  of  the 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  123 

city,  only  606,  or  47.4  percent,  were  church  members.  Of  the 
remaining  52.6  percent,  who  were  not  church  members,  25.7 
percent  attended  church;  and  26.7  percent  were  non-church- 
goers. When  more  than  one-half  of  the  1,273  adults  here 
considered  are  non-church  members  and  over  one-fourth  never 
attend  church,  it  presents  a  serious  aspect  of  religious  condi- 
tion among  a  people  generally  known  as  good  church  people.^ 
When  we  remember  that  the  Welsh  church  has  made  no  effort 
toward  missionary  work  outside  of  its  own  nationality,  and  it 
never  could  until  very  recent  years  because  of  linguistic  limi- 
tations which  it  placed  upon  its  work;  and  when  we  realize 
that  out  of  the  above  1,273  regularly  classified  persons  only 
27.4  percent  speak  the  Welsh  language  and  that  a  very  large 
percent  of  that  number  are  foreign  born  Welsh,  a  portion 
which  is  becoming  smaller  year  by  year  because  of  little  or  no 
immigration  from  Wales ;  and  when  we  remember  that  411  of 
the  above  1,273,  (or  about  one-third  of  the  whole  number)  are 
native  bom  of  native  parents,  and  of  this  only  10.9  percent 
are  able  to  speak  the  Welsh  language;  add  to  this  again  the 
fact  that  out  of  212  persons  under  21  years  of  age  in  the  Cal- 
vinistie  Methodist  Church  only  12.7  percent  are  able  intelli- 
gently to  handle  the  Welsh  language,  may  we  not  fairly  con- 
clude that  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  has  not  in  the  past 
served  the  Welsh  people,  but  only  a  portion  of  the  people  of 
Welsh  blood,  viz.  those  who  understood  the  Welsh  language? 
If  the  Welsh  churches  of  Columbus  were  composed  of  a 
large  membership  which  did  not  understand  the  English 
language  clinging  to  the  Welsh  would  be  commendable,  pro- 
vided a  strong  effort  were  put  forth  at  the  same  time  to  serve 
the  Welsh  population  which  does  not  understand  the  Welsh 
language;  over  one-half  of  whom  are  not  members  in  any 
church  and  one-fourth  of  them  never  attend  church.  But  the 
number  of  Welsh  people  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church 
who  do  not  understand  English  is  very  small,  if  there  are  any. 
There  is  not  a  single  person  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church    who    cannot    carry    on    a    conversation    in    Eng- 

i      See  Appendix  E.  and  Figure  5,  page  102. 


124  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

lish.  There  are  over  250  members  who  cannot  carry  on  a 
conversation  in  Welsh.  The  older  people  tell  us  that  they 
cannot  understand  English  sermons,  but  when  Chapman  and 
Alexander!  come  to  the  city,  or  any  other  far-famed  persons ; 
these  people  attend  the  entire  series  of  discourses  and  they  are 
able  to  report  intelligently  on  what  they  have  heard.  The 
Welshman's  sentiment  regarding  language  runs  away  with  his 
better  judgment  and  what  should  be  his  regard  for  the  highest 
welfare  of  the  growing  generation  of  Welsh  in  America.  The 
writer  believes  that  the  time  is  ripe  when  the  Welsh  church 
in  America  should  give  less  attention  to  the  Welsh  language, 
as  the  vehicle  for  conveying  instruction,  and  that  it  should 
apply  itself  more  diligently  to  the  dissemination  of  truth 
through  the  medium  of  a  language  which  practically  all  the 
Welsh  people  now^  possess,  and  thus  endeavor  to  serve  all  the 
people  in  the  community. 

The  Church  and  its  Ministry. — The  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church  is  rapidly  approaching  a  crisis  with  respect  to  minis- 
terial supply  for  its  pulpits.  Almost  all  of  the  Welsh  com- 
munities in  America  are  in  a  transitional  stage,  but  only  a  few 
of  them  thus  far  have  recognized  that  fact,  and  consequently 
the  church  has  suffered,  or,  speaking  from  a  standpoint  of  the 
community,  the  church  has  failed  to  meet  the  religious  need 
of  the  community.  One  Ohioan  who  has  been  an  officer  in  the 
Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  for  over  40  years  in  one  of  our 
large  cities,  and  who  is  American  born,  said  to  the  writer  in  a 
conversation  on  this  question:  ''Our  fathers  who  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  denomination  in  this  country  never  dreamed 
of  the  present  condition  of  things.  They  believed  that  our 
church  would  always  remain  Welsh."  The  statement  is 
doubtless  very  true.  The  fathers  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
Church  perhaps  did  not  dream  of  changing  linguistic  condi- 
tions. But  they  did  meet  the  need  of  the  community  in  their 
day.  Theirs  was  a  day  of  planning  and  providing  for  the  im- 
migrant from  Wales.  He  was  thoroughly  Welsh  and  they  did 
well  in  providing  for  him.     And  whatever  their  opinion  as  to 

i     Evangelists. 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  125 

the  permanence  of  the  Welsh  language  may  have  been,  we 
know  that  it  is  vanishing  and  the  problem  for  the  Welsh 
church  today  is  to  provide  for  a  Welsh  population  which  does 
not  know  the  Welsh  language.  Does  the  Welsh  church  meet 
this  emergency  ? 

One  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  meeting  the  need  of 
the  community  is  the  question  of  ministerial  supply  for  the 
pulpits  and  the  right  type  of  pastors  for  the  parishes.  We  do 
not  here  raise  the  question  of  the  character  and  ability  of  the 
clergy  from  Wales.  They  are  men  of  most  excellent  charac- 
ter and,  a  large  majority  of  them,  are  men  of  ability.  But  the 
training  and  early  environment  of  the  Welsh  ministers  in  im- 
portant Welsh  churches  have  not  been  the  sort  which  fit  them 
for  the  most  successful  work  in  many  Welsh  communities  to- 
day. The  church  in  the  past  has  been  supplied  very  largely 
by  ministers  from  Wales,  great  men  and  able  preachers  many 
of  them.  And  for  the  early  generations  of  Welsh  in  America, 
they  were  fully  able  to  cope  with  conditions  in  the  Welsh 
parish  and  community.  There  was  perfect  sympathy  between 
pastor  and  people.  The  condition  was  that  of  a  foreigner 
serving  foreigners  in  a  foreigner's  way.  The  spirit  and  cus- 
tom of  the  parishoners  were  not  American,  and  the  preacher 
from  Wales  served  acceptably  and  well. 

During  the  last  decade  or  two,  the  minister  from  Wales 
has  not  been  the  success  in  Welsh  communities  in  America 
that  his  predecessors  were.  The  reason  for  this  is  the  change 
that  has  come  into  the  Welsh  community.  The  pastor,  whose 
early  years  have  been  spent  in  Wales,  and  whose  training  and 
entire  education  have  been  received  in  Welsh  schools  and  col- 
leges, and  whose  ideals  are  the  ideals  of  the  **  Welshman  in 
Wales, '  *  does  not  meet  the  requirements  of  a  Welsh  parish  in 
America.  A  man  with  such  a  training,  excellent  as  it  may 
be  for  the  clergy  in  Wales,  lacks  sympathy  for  the  American 
ideals  with  which  his  parishioners  are  imbued,  and  is  too  firmly 
rooted  in  his  own  type  of  thinking  ever  fully  to  adapt  himself 
to  conditions  in  this  country  where  the  environment  is  thor- 


126  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

oughly  American.  We  have  striking  examples  of  able  minis- 
ters from  Wales  who  have  not  been  a  success  in  Welsh  parishes 
in  America  for  these  reasons,  even  though  some  of  them  were 
abundantly  able  to  preach  in  the  English  language. 

The  chief  reasons  for  the  lack  of  success  of  the  Welsh 
minister  from  Wales,  in  Welsh  communities  in  iVmerica,  may 
be  fairly  summed  up  as  follows:  (i)  The  form  of  ministry 
in  Wales,  where  the  pastor  preaches  in  his  own  church  only 
one  Sunday  in  the  month,  unfits  a  man  for  a  permanent 
pastorate  in  America  where  the  minister  occupies  his  own  pul- 
pit twice  every  Sunday  throughout  the  year,  (ii)  The  lack 
of  sympathy  for  American  ideals  and  institutions  with  which 
his  parishioners  are  imbued,  especially  the  young  of  the  parish, 
\^dth  the  result  that  he  does  not  get  a  hold  on  his  people  as  he 
otherwise  would,  (iii)  The  insistence  of  the  Welsh  pastor 
from  Wales  upon  the  use  of  the  Welsh  language  in  the  church 
services,  and  his  continual  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  the 
Welsh,  instead  of  an  acceptance  of  the  language  known  to  the 
people  of  his  charge  as  a  medium  for  conveying  religious  in- 
struction. The  strongest  witnesses  possible  to  this  fact,  and 
the  only  witnesses  necessary,  are  the  many  Welsh  churches 
closed  and  abandoned  in  communities  where  children  of  the 
early  Welsh  settlers  still  live,  but  who  do  not  understand  the 
Welsh  language.  The  older  Welsh  pastors  and  elders  in  the 
church  insisted  on  having  Welsh  as  the  language  of  the  church 
until  the  church  went  down.  The  churches  are  down,  but  the 
descendants  of  the  early  Welsh  families  are  still  in  the  com- 
munity; some  going  to  English  churches  of  other  denomina- 
tions, while  others  belong  to  the  army  of  the  non-church-going 
Welsh. 

There  is  a  second  class  of  Welsh  ministers  which  has  been 
a  compromise  in  this  transitional  stage  in  the  recent  past. 
Namely,  young  men  from  Wales  who  have  come  to  the  United 
States  in  their  'teens  and  twenties  and  have  entered  our  col- 
leges and  theological  seminaries  in  certain  of  the  States,  par- 
ticularly Wisconsin,  in  which  the  synod  of  the  Calvinistic 


THE  PKOCESS  OF  CHANGE  127 

^lethodist  denomination  has  a  fund  for  the  educating  of  can- 
didates for  the  ministry.  From  such  a  source  has  come  many 
good  men,  and  well  qualified,  to  the  Welsh  pulpit  during  the 
past  twenty  or  twenty-five  years.  They  are  Welsh  by  birth 
and  training  up  to  the  High  School  or  College  age,  and  their 
education  for  the  ministry  has  been  received  in  America.  But 
even  with  these  men  as  leadei-s  the  Welsh  note  prevails,  and 
their  tendency  has  been  to  insist  upon  things  Welsh,  especially 
the  Welsh  language,  rather  than  to  accept  conditions  as  they 
are  and  to  put  their  strength  and  effort  upon  the  moral  and 
religious  development  of  society  as  they  find  it  in  America. 
While  these  men  have  met  an  emergency  in  the  past  decade  or 
two,  their  tendency  has  been  reactionary, — ''back  to  the 
Welsh," — and  this  in  the  future  will  lose  rather  than  gain  for 
the  Welsh  church. 

There  is  a  third  class  of  niinistei-s  to  be  considered  in  this 
connection,  viz.  the  American  born  Welsh  preacher.  This 
class,  from  the  point  of  view  of  sympathy  with  American 
spirit,  customs  and  ideals,  and  the  complete  understanding  of 
the  American  environment  which  surrounds  our  people  in  a 
given  community,  is  Avell  equipped  for  the  task.  These  men 
are  of  Welsh  stock.  They  have  been  raised  in  Welsh  homes 
with  a  certain  knowledge  of  Welsh  institutions  and  customs 
and  habits  of  mind;  and  thej'  are  possessed  of  a  good 
knowledge  of  present  day  conditions  which  surround  their 
people.  But  for  the  Welsh  church  most  of  them  are  entirely 
inadequate  because,  even  though  they  are  of  pure  Welsh  blood, 
they  do  not  know  the  Welsh  language  sufiiciently  to  use  it  in 
public  service  in  the  Welsh  pulpit,  where  at  lea^st  one  sermon 
on  Sunday  in  the  Welsh  language  is  required.  The  result  is 
that  a  great  majority  of  young  Welshmen  who  are  candidates 
for  the  ministry  from  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  enter 
the  ministry  in  an  English  speaking  church. 

The  crisis  which  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  is  ap- 

The  Welsh  Press  abounds  with  articles  opposing  the  introduction  of  English 
into  various  church  serrices.  In  the  columns  of  the  "Drych"  articles  appear 
insisting  upon  more  Welsh  in  the  Welsh  churches.  The  writer  has  many  clip- 
pings on  the  subject. 


128  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

preaching  is  this:  unless  conditions  indicated  by  the  signs  of 
the  times  in  the  church  are  anticipated,  the  church  will  find 
itself,  in  the  not  distant  future,  a  church  without  an  efficient 
ministry  such  as  it  now  possesses.  For,  in  the  first  place,  if 
our  reasoning  is  correct,  the  clergy  from  Wales  will  not  meet 
the  requirements  of  conditions  in  the  Welsh  communities  in 
America.  Secondly,  if  the  older  ministers  and  elders,  who 
control  in  the  councils  of  the  church,  continue  to  insist  on  the 
maintainance  of  the  Welsh  language  in  the  churches  of  the 
denomination,  the  denomination  will  be  unable  to  retain  its 
candidates  for  the  ministry  in  the  Welsh  church.  The  young 
men  who  are  studying  for  the  ministry  in  the  Welsh  church 
are  also  studying  conditions  and  are  aw^are  of  social  forces 
operating  in  Welsh  communities  in  this  country.  They  are 
aware  of  linguistic  limitations  in  the  Welsh  parish.  They 
have  not  the  same  passion  for  the  Welsh  language  as  their 
predecessors  had,  and  they  will  seek  opportunities  to  serve  the 
church,  regardless  of  language  and  nationality,  as  Americans. 
They  are  not  likely  to  cling  to  the  Welsh  language  at  the  ex- 
pense of  rendering  greater  services  in  an  American  pulpit. 

The  Welsh  church  in  America  has  no  schools,  colleges  or 
theological  seminaries.  For  all  their  learning,  outside  of  the 
Sunday  School,  they  must  depend  on  American  institutions.^ 
This  is  not  true  of  other  foreign  peoples  in  America  today. 
The  Germans,  for  instance,  have  their  schools  and  colleges  and 
theological  institutions,  which,  with  a  large  immigration,  will 
keep  up  the  German  language  for  decades  to  come.^  The 
Welsh  have  none  of  these  and  immigration  to  the  older  settle- 
ments has  practically  ceased.  This  means  that  in  the  absence 
of  distinct  Welsh  institutions  Americanization  w411  increase 
among  the  Welsh  more  rapidly  as  time  goes  on.     And  the  time 


1  Even  Welsh  literature  in  America  today  is  confined  practically  to  two 
periodicals,  viz.  the  "Drych"  a  national  weekly  for  the  Welsh  in  America,  and 
the  "Cyfaill,"  a  monthly  magazine,  the  official  organ  of  the  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dist denomination  in  this  country.  Many  Welsh  papers  and  magazines  have 
been  started  from  time  to  time,  but  have  been  discontinued.     See  Appendix  6. 

2  See  the  "Cyfaill"  for  January  1910,  article  by  Rev.  John  B.  Johns,  D.  D. 
Dr.  Johns  read  this  article  before  the  Welsh  Synod  of  Wisconsin  when  he 
was  pastor  of  the  Welsh  C.  M.  church  at  Randolph,  Wis.,  he  is  now  pastor  of 
the  C.  M.  Church  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 


THE  PROCESS  OP  CHANGE  129 

is  not  far  distant  when  complete  assimilation  into  the  great 
American  people  will  have  taken  place. 

The  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  Columbus  during  the 
past  decade  has  undergone  rapid  and  significant  change.  The 
pastors  of  the  Columbus  church  up  to  1899  were  not  able  to 
preach  in  English,  and  were  opposed  to  anything  which 
savoi*ed  of  English  in  the  church.  During  the  '908  the  de- 
mand for  English  was  felt  to  increase,  but  the  allegiance  to 
the  Welsh,  on  the  other  hand,  was  very  strong  on  the  part  of 
those  in  authority.  When  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society 
was  organized  it  was  discouraged  by  some  of  the  elders,  and 
was  regarded  almost  as  a  dangerous  thing.  This  position  was 
taken  for  two  reasons.  First,  the  young  people  in  the  church 
had  never  taken  an  active  part  in  church  services  before,  ex- 
cept for  the  repeating  of  verses  in  the  fellowship  meeting, 
and  to  see  the  young  active  in  church  services  appeared  to 
some  of  the  austere  elders  as  '^playing  with  religion.**  The 
second  reason  for  the  opposition  is  that  English  was  spoken  in 
the  meetings  by  some  who  took  an  active  part.  So  the 
Christian  Endeavor  met  with  no  encouragement  for  some  time, 
but  it  thrived  nevertheless. 

Beginning  with  the  20th  Century  things  began  to  change. 
One  sermon  a  month  was  preached  in  English  on  Sunday 
evening.  English  classes  in  Sunday  School  began  to  multiply. 
For  a  time  the  linguistic  struggle  waged  in  Sunday  School. 
Teachers  insisted  on  teaching  Welsh  to  their  pupils  during 
the  Sunday  School  hour,  and  Welsh  children  left  Sunday 
School  because  their  teachers  insisted  on  their  learning  Welsh 
when  they  knew  nothing  of  Welsh  on  the  street,  in  the  public 
school,  nor  even  in  the  home.  But  the  strong  Welsh  prejudice 
was  overcome  in  the  Sunday  School  as  time  went  on,  and  to- 
day about  28,  or  perhaps  more,  classes  out  of  36  are  conducted 
in  English.  By  the  latter  part  of  1907,  English  sermons  were 
introduced  into  the  Sunday  evening  service  regularly  every 
Sunday.  The  Christian  Endeavor  Society  is  now  carried  on 
entirely  in  English.     In  the  Junior  Endeavor  Society  not  a 


130  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

word  of  Welsh  is  spoken.  The  Brotherhood  Society  meetings 
are  all  English  and  the  Ladies'  Literary  Club  as  well.  The 
large  majority  of  those  who  take  part  in  the  fellowship  meet- 
ing do  so  in  English.  The  mid-week  prayer  service  is  about 
half  English  and  half  Welsh.  The  trustees  carry  on  their 
discussions  in  English,  and  the  records  are  kept  in  the  English 
language.  The  session  has  mixed  records,  both  Welsh  and 
English.  The  meetings  of  the  Ladies*  Aid  and  Missionary 
Society  as  well  as  the  Cambrian  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  all  conducted 
in  English.  And  the  annual  report  of  the  church  is  published 
in  the  English  language.  The  only  distinctly  Welsh  service 
in  the  church  are  the  old  people's  prayer  service  at  9  a.  m.  and 
the  public  service  at  10 :00  a.  m.  on  Sundays. 

It  is  this  recognition  of  the  need  of  English  that  has  given 
the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  its  substantial  growth  in  the 
last  decade,  and  especially  in  the  last  five  years.  The  admis- 
sion of  English  into  the  church  services  has  kept  the  young 
Welsh  people  in  the  Welsh  church  instead  of  their  leaving  it 
for  English  churches  in  the  city,  or  from  drifting  to  total  in- 
difference regarding  church  life.  To  be  sure,  immigration 
from  local  communities  has  kept  up  during  the  last  decade  as 
before,  but  the  corresponding  exit  on  the  part  of  the  young  of 
the  church  has  not  been  as  great  as  it  was  in  previous  years. 
Take,  for  example,  the  number  of  children  baptized  and  the 
number  of  children  received  into  full  membership  of  the 
church  in  25  years,  and  compare  the  relative  increase  of  those 
received  in  the  last  five  years.  The  total  number  of  children 
baptized  in  25  years  is  163.  Of  this  number,  22.7  percent 
were  baptized  in  the  last  five  years.  This  is  about  normal. ^ 
The  total  number  received  into  full  membership  of  the  church 
in  25  years  is  146.  Of  this  number,  42.4  percent  were  taken 
in  during  the  last  ^ve  years.  This  shows  a  tremendous  in- 
crease.2  Immigration  has  continued  from  local  Welsh  com- 
munities to  be  sure,  but  the  real  and  persistent  gro\\i:h  of  the 
church  has  resulted  from  the  fact  that  it  has  been  able  to 

1  See  Figure  8.  i.,  page  131. 

2  See  Figure  8.  ii.,  page  131. 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE 


181 


Figure  8 


7  7.3 


4Z.  4- 

51   6 


Figure  8.  i,  represents  the  total  number  of  children  bap- 
tized in  25  years  previous  to  January  1, 1910,  as  per  discussioa 
on  page  130. 

Segment  a.     Gives  total  baptized  from  1885  to  1904. 

Segment  b.     Shows  total  baptized  from  1905  to  1909. 

Figure  8.  ii  representing  the  total  of  children  received 
into  church  in  25  years  previous  to  January  1,  1910,  as  per 
discussion  on  page  130. 

Segment  a.     Shows  total  received  from  1885  to  1904. 

Segment  b.     Shows  total  received  from  1905  to  1909. 


132  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

retain  its  own  children  by  adapting  itself  to  them  linguisti- 
cally. 

An  octagenarian  living  in  Columbus,  but  who  spent  most 
of  his  life  in  Jackson  county,  in  discussing  the  linguistic  situ- 
ation with  the  writer  said:  ''Pan  ddaeth  Saesneg  i  mewa  i'r 
Settlement  fe  aeth  crefydd  i  maes."  (When  English  came 
into  the  Settlement  religion  went  out  of  it/')  Whatever  may 
be  said  of  that  philosophy  with  respect  to  the  Jackson  and 
Gallia  settlement,  the  recognition  of  the  imminent  need  of 
English  has  saved  the  young  people  of  the  Welsh  families  to 
the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  Columbus.  Only  29,  or 
less  than  6  percent,  of  the  church  members  in  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church  are  native  born  descendants  of  the  old 
Welsh  families  of  Columbus  who  came  here  previous  to  the 
influx  from  the  Jackson  and  Gallia  and  other  local  settlements. 
The  large  majority  of  the  descendants  of  the  old  Welsh  fam- 
ilies are  in  English  churches  of  one  denomination  or  another, 
and  some  of  them  in  no  church.  Scores  of  them  were  lost  to 
the  Welsh  church,  no  doubt,  for  linguistic  reasons.  The  new 
group  of  Columbus  born  Welsh  children,  children  of  the 
Welsh  who  have  come  into  Columbus  in  the  past  quarter  of  a 
century,  are  being  held  to  the  Welsh  church  largely  because 
the  church  in  recent  years  has  tried  to  adapt  itself  to  their 
condition.  Today  212  young  people  under  21  years  of  age, 
and  many  others  who  are  over  21  years  old,  are  in  the  Welsh 
church  and  society  while  only  12.7  percent  of  those  under  21 
years  can  understand  the  Welsh  language  with  any  reasonable 
degree  of  intelligence. 

It  is  evident  that  a  great  change  has  come  over  the  Welsh 
social  mind  in  recent  years.  The  Welsh  church  in  Columbus 
is  awakening  to  the  new  conditions,  and  an  endeavor  is  being 
made  to  meet  the  need,  at  least  in  the  church  society,  by  in- 
troducing English  into  the  church  services.  The  Welsh  group 
in  Columbus  has  been  transformed  from  the  ancient  type  of 
Welsh  society  into  a  modem  Welsh  community.  The  church 
is  awake  to  modern  and  present  day  problems.     The  Welsh 


THE  PROCESS  OP  CHANGE  133 

of  Columbus  are  now  studying  the  conditions  which  surround 
their  people.^ 

INTERMARRIAGE  AFFECTS  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

Intermarriage  between  the  Welsh  and  people  of  other 
nationalities  reveals  a  change  in  their  social  thinking.  While 
it  reveals  a  change  it  also  produces  change.  Only  a  few  de- 
cades ago  to  marry  outside  of  the  Welsh  nationality  was 
looked  upon  with  disfavor  and  even  as  a  disgrace  in  some  in- 
stances. Intermarriage  with  other  nationalities  is  now  a  com- 
mon thing  among  the  Welsh  people,  as  our  statistics  on  mar- 
riage and  conjugal  relation  point  out  very  clearly.  Out  of 
17  marriages  solemnized  by  the  writer  as  pastor  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodist  Church,  8  were  between  persons,  one  of 
whom  was  a  member  of  his  church  (and  of  pure  Welsh  blood) 
with  persons  of  other  nationalities.  From  the  general  canvass 
of  the  city  we  found  that  out  of  653,  19.6  percent,  were  of 
parties  both  of  whom  were  Welsh ;  80.4  percent,  were  between 
parties  one  of  whom  was  Welsh  and  the  other  a  person  of 
some  other  nationality .^  Such  an  extensive  intermarriage  with 
other  peoples  must  have  a  great  influence  in  breaking  down 
the  boundaries  of  a  distinctly  Welsh  type  of  society. 

The  Welsh  have  not  only  intermarried  with  different  na- 
tionalities, but  also  with  persons  of  many  and  various  religious 
persuasions  and  this  affects  the  Welsh  church  problem.  They 
are  united  with  persons  in  a  religious  way  whose  persuasions 
and  confessions  are  not  even  known  to  the  Welshman  in  his 
own  country,  such  as  Lutherans,  United  Brethren,  etc.  Eight 
Welshmen  were  members  of  the  Catholic  church  while  21 
others  had  married  Catholics ;  and  a  larger  number  than  that 
had  married  Lutherans  and  some  united  with  the  Lutheran 
church  as  a  result.  These  influences  in  a  religious  and  social 
way,  together  with  the  influences  of  the  schools  upon  the 
young,  the  influence  of  business  intercourse  and  commercial 
relations  existing  between  Welshmen  and  men  of  other  nation- 


1  The  proposed   "Welsh  Social  Center"   is  an  evidence  of  this. 

2  See  Appendix  D. ;  also  Figrures  8  and  4,  pages  84  and  86. 


134  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

alities,  sufficiently  account  for  the  tremendous  change  on  the 
part  of  the  Welsh  group  in  Columbus  in  recent  years. 

CONCLUSION 

From  a  study  of  the  conditions  revealed  in  the  foregoing 
chapters,  the  following  facts  may  be  noted : 

1.  The  Welsh  of  Columbus,  by  adapting  themselves  to 
surrounding  conditions,  are  rapidly  becoming  assimilated  into 
the  American  population  of  the  city,  and  consequently  their 
Welsh  characteristics  and  institutions  are  vanishing. 

2.  The  Welsh  language  is  rapidly  passing  out  of  use  both 
in  the  home  and  in  the  church.  The  rising  generation  cannot 
speak  it. 

3.  Intermarriage  between  Welsh  persons  and  persons  of 
other  nationalities  is  very  general  and  widespread,  and  this 
modifies  conditions  in  Welsh  society. 

4.  Intermarriage  between  members  of  the  Welsh  church 
and  people  of  other  religious  persuasions  in  other  nationalities 
affects  the  Welsh  church  and  society. 

5.  Welsh  parents  insist  on  their  children  being  faith- 
ful to  the  Welsh  church.  At  the  same  time  they  insist  on 
having  the  Sunday  morning  service  in  the  Welsh  language 
which  the  growing  generation  does  not  understand.  Many 
churches  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  denomination  have  but 
one  English  preaching  service  in  the  month  and  some  have  no 
English  preaching. 

6.  The  Welsh  church  must  apply  itself  more  vigorously 
to  adapting  itself  to  the  rapidly  changing  linguistic  condi- 
tions. It  is  now  time  that  English  were  introduced  into  the 
morning  service  on  Sunday.  With  about  one-half  of  the 
society  unable  to  speak  Welsh  and  the  entire  membership  able 
to  understand  English  preaching,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
rising  generation  may  soon  be  favored  with  some  English 
preaching  on  Sunday  morning  in  Columbus. 

7.  If  the  leaders  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in 
the  United  States  continue  to  insist  on  preserving  the  Welsh 


THE  PROCESS  OF  CHANGE  135 

language  in  the  church  services,  as  they  have  in  the  past  they 
will  find  the  church,  in  the  not  distant  future,  a  church  with- 
out an  efficient  ministry'  such  as  it  now  enjoys.  Candidates 
for  the  christian  ministry  in  the  Welsh  church  today  have 
their  ears  to  the  ground,  and  they  read  the  signs  of  the  times, 
and  they  will  likely  enter  the  ministry  where  linguistic  limi- 
tations will  not  be  a  handicap  to  their  usefulness. 

8.  The  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  denomination,  if  it 
is  determined  to  exist  as  a  separate  body  for  some  time  to 
come,  should  study  its  parish  or  community  socially,  and 
through  its  knowledge  of  social  conditions  serve  the  people — 
their  social  and  spiritual  need — through  the  medium  of 
a  language  which  all  the  people  understand.  The  motto  of  the 
Welsh  church  in  the  community,  socially  speaking,  should  be 
— Adaptation. 

9.  The  ultimate  fate  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  (or 
Welsh  Presbyterian)  denomination  in  this  country  will  be 
complete  assimilation  into  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States.  This  will  take  place  in  one  or  the  other  of 
two  ways,  viz.  by  Union  or  by  Absorption;  and  the  longer 
Union  is  postponed,  the  more  rapidly  will  Absorption  take 
place.  With  the  present  condition  of  widespread  intercourse, 
both  social  and  commercial,  and  while  sharing  the  language 
and  life  common  to  Americans  and  mingling  freely  with  all 
other  peoples,  the  Welsh  cannot  continue  in  a  church  based  on 
and  limited  to  a  single  race. 

The  fond  dream  of  the  Welshman  of  the  past  has  been  for 
a  community  in  America  strictly  Welsh,  uncontaminated  by 
extraneous  influences,  and  in  which  the  Welsh  language  might 
ever  flourish.  But  this  is  not  to  be.  The  process  of  Ameri- 
canization will  prevail  over  the  efforts  of  any  foreign  group 
to  the  contrary.  And  under  the  influence  of  American  insti- 
tutions an  American  type  of  man  will  ultimately  be  evolved. 
Local  groups  or  communities  may  try  icr  stay  this  process,  if 
they  will,  by  clinging  to  some  cardinal  custom  of  their  re- 
spective father-lands  or  mother-tongues,  but  ultimately  all 


136  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

must  be  melted  into  a  uniform  American  people.  Marks  of 
other  races  will  vanish  in  our  country  and  an  American  type 
will  be  the  result.  Every  people  who  come  to  our  shores  will 
contribute  some  element  which  will  affect  the  character  of  the 
ultimate  American,  but  in  making  its  contributions  every 
foreign  community  will  spend  itself. 

The  Welsh  in  America  have  come  to  stay.  Their  descend- 
ants, as  they  go  down  through  the  generations,  are  destined  to 
lose  their  identity  through  amalgamation  and  assimilation. 
But  while  they  thus  lose  their  life,  they  also  find  it;  for  in 
losing  their  identity  they  make  their  permanent  contribution 
to  the  American  race.  Nothing  of  intrinsic  value  will  be  lost, 
but  will  exist  as  a  lasting  element  in  American  civilization. 
Welsh  communities  in  America,  then,  should  apply  them- 
selves to  rearing  citizens  imbued  with  the  highest  American 
ideals  of  education,  religion  and  citizenship.  This  does  not 
mean  that  they  should  think  less  of  the  Land  of  their  Fathers, 
but  that  they  should  think  more  of  their  adopted  land  and 
the  home  their  children,  and  thus  do  their  part  in  contribut- 
ing to  the  development  of  the  highest  possible  type  of  Ameri- 
can citizen. 


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THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


APPENDIX  B. 

TABLE  V. 

AGE  GROUPS  ACCORDING  TO  SEX  IN  THE 

CALVINISTIC  METHODIST  CHURCH  AND  SOCIETY 

Age                 Males  Females    Totals 

Infants  under  5  yrs.                 27  24            51 

ChUdhood   6  to  10  yrs.            22  28 

11  to  15  yrs.            31-53  21-49          102 

Youth   16  to  20  yrs.                 27  32            59 

Maturity   21  to  30  yrs.            57  59 

31  to  40  yrs.            50  64 

41  to  50  yrs.            39  48 

51  to  60  yrs.            27-172  41-212        384 

Old  Age   61  to  70  yrs.            17  31 

71  to  80  yrs.              9  10 

81  yrs.  and  over              4-30  5-46            76 

TOTALS 309  363        672 


APPENDIX  C. 

TABLE  VI. 

FOREIGN  AND  NATIVE  BORN 

.1      I 

®  ""  "Si-* 

I      II      ja    |l    S5S 

hS  p.  .a_      -^  .Oft 

fe         ^  ^         ^z;         ^ 

Calvinistic    Methodist    Church    and 

society 127     192      67    14    272 

Regularly  Classified  in  city  at  large. 269     415     152     26    411 

Totals    396    607    219    40    683 

Total  foreign  born 396 

Total  native  bom 1,549 


APPENDIX  139 

APPENDIX  D. 

TABLES  VIII,  IX.  and  X. 

MARRIAGE  AND  INTERMARRIAGE  AND  THE 

NATIONNALITIES  WITH  WHOM  THE 

WELSH  HAVE  INTERMARRIED 

TABLE  VIII. 

.»    I 

a    I?  «a  0. 
.2    ®    |«  a^  s     & 


i     ii  si  i|  2g    - 
*      ^S.  i"  ^s   ^g. 


.a  ft 


g  '5        tS       tS  :S           «  5 

o  cB         «        08  cs           a  O 

fc  55        Jz;       55  »          P  H 

The  total  number  of  marriages 108  185    70    4  212    74  653 

Welih  males  who  married  Welsh  fe- 
males      42  20       1     0  13    62  128 

The  total  number  of  mixed  marriages.   66  165     69     4  199    22  525 

Welsh    males    with    females    of    other 

nationalities     52  122    49     4  160     12  399 

Welsh    females    with    males    of    other 

nationalities  14  43     20     0  39     10  126 

TABLE  IX. 

MALES  WHO  INTERMARRIED 

The  total  number  of  mixed  marriages.   52  122     49     4  160     12  399 

Welsh  males  who  married  Americans . .  31  90     35     3  126      4  289 

Welsh  males  who  married  Germans...   14  24     10     1  23      5  77 

Welsh  males  who  married  Irish 5  5      20  8      3  23 

Welsh  males  who  married  Scotch 2  3      20  2      0  9 

Welsh  males  who  married  Norwegians    0  0      0    0  10  1 

TABLE  X. 

FEMALES  WHO  INTERMARRIED 

Total  number  of  mixed  marriages 14  43    20    0  39     10  126 

Welsh  females  who  married  Americans  11  29     16     0  32      4  82 

Welsh  females  who  married  Germans . .     2  6      4     0  12      4  28 

Welsh  females  who  married  Irish. ...     1  300  41  9 

Welsh  females  who  married  Scotch ...     0  500  01  6 

Welsh  females  who  married  Swedes.  .0  0      0    0  10  1 


140  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

APPENDIX  E. 

TABLES  XIII.,  XIV.,  XV.i 

CHURCH  MEMBERS,  ATTENDANTS,  AND 
NON-CHURCH-GOERS 

Classified  according  to  their  Foreign  and  Native  born  groups. 

TABLE  XIII.     a. 

CHURCH  MEMBERS 


60  ► 


9 


§B  «S  >  ^  bS 


.a 


^  -ss  "I  -|  Si 

'  ii  §1  il  is 

^  pes  O'"'  rn  ©ai 

j;  ^  +s  ^  ^  ^ 

o  «  «  «  «  o 

fe  ^  ^  ^  }?;  H 

Total  number  of  church  members 95  165  61  8  150  479 

Total  number  of  males 46  75  26  6  82  232 

Total  number   of  females 49  90  35  2  68  244 

Total  number  of  males  who  are  single ..     4  27  10  3  23  67 
Total  number  of  females  who  are  single  13  45  24  2  42  126 
Total  number  of  Welsh  males  who  mar- 
ried   Welsh    females 21         8  10  6  36 

Total    number    of    Welsh    females    who 

married   Welsh   males 28  14  1  0  8  51 

Total  number  of  Welsh  males  who  mar- 
ried females  of  other  nationalities. .   21  40  15  3  53  132 
Total    number    of    Welsh    females    who 

married  males  of  other  nationalities     8  31  10  0  18  67 

b.     (incomplete) 

Total  number  of  church  members 53  27  10  3  34  127 

Total  number  of  males 25         8  3  1  7  44 

Total   number  of  females 28  19  7  22  27  83 

1     Tables   XIII.,    XIV.    and   XV.    are    in    two    parts,  "a"  and  "b".  The 

returns  were  not  all  as  complete  as  we  could  wish  for  on  this  subject,  and  for 

that  reason  part  "b"  in  each  table  is  given  separate  so  as  to  permit  us  to  give 

"a"   as  complete  and  with  as  much  detail  as  possible  for  returns  which  were 
complete. 


APPENDIX  141 


TABLE  XIV.    a. 

CHURCH  ATTENDANTS 

Who  are  not  Members. 


05 


fc  « 

^^ 

^ 

§ 

s  0 

n 

il 

TS 

•^ 

®  s 

?  s 

« 

►  eS 

>  s 

> 

5 

eS 

0!) 

a 

0 

52; 

^ 

A 

H 

35 

4 

97 

282 

24 

3 

59 

184 

11 

1 

38 

98 

6 

3 

17 

51 

5 

0 

15 

36 

•°        ,c  p. 
Sg        « 
2       '^ 

Total  not  members  who  attend 49  97 

Total   number  of  males 31  67 

Total   number  of  females 18  30 

Total  of  the  males,  single 6  19 

Total  of  the  females,  single 1  15 

Total  number  of  Welsh  males  who  mar- 
ried   Welsh    females 14  6        0       0          5       25 

Total    number    of    Welsh    females    who 

married  Welsh   males 8  4        0       0          3       15 

Welsh   males   who   married   females   of 

other  nationalities   10  34       16       1         33       94 

Welsh   females   who   married   males   of 

other  nationalities   3  4        5       0         13       25 

b.     (incomplete) 

Total  not  members  who  attend 16  15 

Total  number  of  males 10  8 

Total  number  of  females 6  7 


3 

0 

12 

46 

2 

0 

5 

25 

1 

0 

7 

21 

143  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


TABLE  XV.    a. 
NON-CHURCH-GOERS 


I 

a 

o 

« 

o 

Total  non-church-goers   49 

Total  number  of  males 39 

Total  number  of  females 10 

Total  number  of  males,  single 12 

Total  number  of  females,  single 1 

Welsh  males  who  married  Welsh  females  7 
Welsh  females  who  married  Welsh  males  6 
Welsh   males   who   married   females   of 

other    nationalities    20      48       18      0        52    138 

Welsh   females   who   married   males   of 

other  nationalities   3        7        4      0  7      21 

b.     (incomplete) 

Total  non-church-goers   7 

Total  number  of  these  males 7 

Total  number  of  these  females 0 


a 

1^ 

«a 

« 

s 

s- 

ft  2 

•+2 

o 

2  fl 

A  « 

OS 

a 

as 
11 

si 

2S 

§1 

^ft 

tS 

^c. 

« 

9  0 

*  a 

<o 

• 

> 

►  C8 

>  s 

> 

,2! 

CB 

^ 

es 

52; 

J5 

^ 

^ 

H 

100 

42 

11 

113 

315 

87 

33 

7 

97 

263 

13 

9 

4 

16 

52 

33 

15 

7 

43 

110 

4 

5 

4 

7 

21 

6 

0 

0 

2 

15 

2 

0 

0 

2 

10 

1 

1 

0 

5 

24 

8 

0 

0 

2 

17 

3 

1 

0 

3 

7 

APPENDIX  143 


APPENDIX  F. 
WELSH  PERIODICALS  PUBLISHED  IN  AMERICA 

1.  **Cymro    America/'     a     bi-weekly     established     1832; 

existed  only  a  few  months. 

2.  **Y  Cyfaill/*  a  denominational  monthly  of  the  Calvin- 

istic  Methodist  denomination  established  1838,  and 
is  extant. 

3.  '*Y  Cenhadwr/'  a  denominational  monthly  of  the  Con- 

gregational church,  established  1840  and  became  ex- 
tinct about  1900. 

4.  **Y  Dyngarwr,**  established  1842,  and  was  united  with 

**Y  Cenhadwr'*  in  1844. 

5.  **Y  Beread,''  a  denominational  bi-weekly  of  the  Baptist 

denomination,  established  in  1842,  and  was  published 
for  about  a  year. 

6.  **Y  Seren  Gorllewinol,**  established  in  1842  as  an  organ 

of  the  Baptist  denomination,  but  has  been  discon- 
tinued for  a  great  many  years. 

7.  **Y  Detholydd,'*  a  Congregational  denominational  organ 

established  1850,  and  was  soon  discontinued. 

8.  **Haul   Gomer/'  established  in  1884,  and  was  discon- 

tinued after  nine  months. 

9.  **Y  Drych,''  a  national  weekly  established  1851  and  is 

still  extant. 

10.  *'Cymro  Americanaidd,  * '  a  weekly  established  1853;  ab- 

sorbed by  the  Drych  a  little  later. 

11.  '*Y  Gwyliedydd  Americanaidd, ' '  established  1854;  ab- 

sorbed by  the  Drych  in  1855. 

12.  **Y    Cylchgrawn   Cenedlaethol, ' '   established   1853,   and 

published  quarterly  until  1856. 

13.  **Y  Traethodydd/'  established  1857,  and  published  quar- 

terly  until  1861  or  1862. 


144  THE  WELSH  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

14.  '*Y   Golygydd/'   established   1856,   only   four  numbers 

were  issued. 

15.  '*Yr  Arweinydd/'  established  1858  and  continuing  for 

three  or  four  years. 

16.  "Y  Bardd/'  established  1858;  only  five  numbers  of  the 

''Bardd'*  were  issued. 

17.  **Y  Wasg,"  established  1871,  absorbed  by  '^Y  Drych'' 

in  1890. 

18.  **Baner   America,"   established   1868,   absorbed   by  the 

"Drych"  in  1877. 

19.  '*Y  Columbia,"  established  1888,  absorbed  by  the  Drych 

in  1894.     The  '^ Columbia"  was  bi-lingual. 

20.  ''Y  Lamp,"  established  in  the  early  '90s  as  a  Christian 

Endeavor  organ  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Synod 
of  "Wisconsin;  discontinued  about  six  or  eight  years 
ago. 

21.  "  Y  Trysor, '  *  successor  to  *  *  Y  Lamp, ' '  issued  two  or  three 

years. 

22.  ''Seren  Oneida"         )  ^^       ,,  ,.^.    , 

23.  -Cvfaill^o^Undeb"  iThese  three  were  pohtica   organs 

24.  -YrAmserau"  f       and  lived  but  a  short  tm.e. 

Of  the  above  papers  and  periodicals  established  and  print- 
ed for  the  Welsh  in  America,  only  two  survive  today,  viz.  the 
'* Drych,"  a  national  weekly;  and  **Y  Cyfaill,"  a  monthly, 
which  is  the  official  organ  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church, 
in  the  United  States. 

There  are,  however,  two  periodicals  designed  for  the  Welsh 
in  America  printed  in  the  English  language:  "The  Cam- 
brian," a  bi-weekly  magazine,  and  **The  Druid,"  a  weekly 
paper. 


ERROR 

Reference  to  "Table  VI.,  Page  94"  on  page  77,  should 
read  ' '  Table  VI.,  Appendix  C. " 


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